Greetings from the University of Minnesota Crookston! Our recent mild weather has allowed some of our spring sports teams the ability to have practices outdoors which hasn’t happened this early for quite some time. Our winter sports are still going strong and we invite you to attend our February home games/matches which include women’s and men’s basketball February 8, 16, and 17 in Lysaker Gymnasium and women’s tennis at Choice Fitness in Grand Forks (N.D.) February 10, 11, 16, 17; plus our upcoming home equestrian meet March 9 and 10. Our men’s hockey team is headed into the WCCHA Tournament in Blaine, Minn. February 9 and we’ll be hosting a watch party at Drafts in Crookston. Come out and enjoy the maroon and gold spirit.
February is also Black History Month and we have a number of events happening including a unique performance featuring the marriage of theater and piano which celebrates African American women called, “Ain’t I A Woman!” This event will be held Thursday, February 15 at 7 p.m. in Bede Ballroom and everyone is invited. The next day, February 16, U of M Crookston students will have the opportunity to enjoy fun and fitness with West African Dance Specialist Nadirah inside our beautiful Wellness Center.
The week of February 12 we will be hosting University of Minnesota president candidates on our campus. We will share additional details as they come in, but the plan is to host an open forum for each candidate and everyone is invited.
We hope to see you at the City of Crookston’s Community Futures gathering February 10 at the Crookston Public Library where facilitators will use design thinking to help create a strategy to move the community forward. Determining funds and programs to support the ideas of community members will be one of the goals. The U of M’s outreach and extension programs helped to organize this event.
Our campus started our own future thinking process last summer and named the strategic planning “Imagine Crookston’s Future.” Faculty and staff, including all members of our strategic leadership team, prepared and participated in a two-day retreat in August 2023 which led to the formation of teams to combine identified assets with the most promising trends to catalyze transformation here on our campus. The six action teams include Community Engagement, Corporate Partnerships, Durable Skills, Technology, Sustainability and Optimizing Assets, and University of Minnesota System Collaboration. To learn more about this plan, you can visit https://crk.umn.edu/imagine.
In recent news, our University signed an agreement with Northwood Technical College in Wisconsin and we’re looking forward to welcoming students who received their diploma from Northwood’s Machine Tool Technical program into our Manufacturing Management program as they work towards earning their bachelor’s degree. It’s partnerships like this that allow institutions to work together and thrive.
Back to the mild weather, are you in need of a car wash and detail and help students at the same time? Our NACTA team members are holding their annual fundraiser through April 12 and for $50 you can get a full interior clean and detail plus exterior wash and wax. Washes are held on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays in our Kiser Building. Make a reservation on the Google form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScs1lAXZ68Esn6wwWw22J5_1_zxKcZKl2xW-A0YSDcTsAN94w/viewform or email heinz286@crk.umn.edu if you have any questions. Proceeds go towards the team’s trip to the national competition.
Hope you have a fantastic February and go Golden Eagles!
Chancellor Mary Holz-Clause
