Michelle and Dale Ladig have seen Bemidji State University through many perspectives – not only their own, but also those of BSU students they’ve met as longtime university employees, their four daughters and students at Bemidji High School.

They are very clear about the merits of Bemidji State, and they want to share it with local students who might otherwise take their talents elsewhere.

To that end, they have made a five-year pledge to the Imagine Tomorrow campaign that will endow a $1,000 annual scholarship and will be directed to a Bemidji High student attending BSU.

“We want to give back to our community and try to help a local student achieve success through coming to BSU,” Michelle said. “It’s a win for the university and the community.”

In addition, they continue to support a scholarship, originally funded by General Mills in the mid-1980s, that bears their names and supports a returning student who continues to live in campus housing.

The scholarship was renamed for the Ladigs in honor of Dale’s retirement last summer after a 34-year career, including 20 years overseeing residential housing and programs as the director of residential life. After previous work at Southwest Minnesota State University, he came to Bemidji State in 1978 as area director for Birch, Linden and Tamarack halls.

Michelle has worked at BSU since 2000, for most of those years as a member of the Information Technology staff, including management of a university computer store. Last year, she transferred into a faculty support role in the College of Arts and Sciences. Previously, she worked in job development and training for the State of Minnesota
in Bemidji.

Both divorced and each with two daughters from a previous marriage, Michelle and Dale met through mutual friends in Bemidji. They have been married for almost seven years.

Raising their girls and seeing them through high school and into college has deepened the Ladigs’ appreciation of the important decisions students make along the way.

Both are supporters of the arts, and they have been especially involved with the Paul Bunyan Playhouse, where they currently volunteer and Dale was a member of the board for a decade.

Music is another passion, and they support the marching band and other music programs at Bemidji High School, where Michelle’s daughter, Rachel, is a junior this year.

“When students apply themselves to their music, they just seem to set those same standards for their education,” Michelle said.

The Ladigs say they’ve come to realize that Bemidji students don’t always recognize the tremendous educational opportunities that BSU offers right in their backyard. Their new scholarship is one way to encourage talented local students to take advantage of the university’s strengths.

Dale said the scholarship also is a way of saying thank you to both Bemidji High and Bemidji State.

“Our kids have had a great scholastic experience here, so part of this is being able to say thanks to BSU for our rewarding careers and thanks to Bemidji High School for everything they did for our kids,” he said.

As parents and as university employees, they’ve gained a deep appreciation of both the challenges and the opportunities that young people encounter on their journeys to adulthood.

Michelle recalled a student majoring in music whom she got to know and mentored while he worked at the university computer store. Her recommendation helped him land an information technology position at the Blake School in Minneapolis.

“I had contagious enthusiasm about information technology that he responded to,” she said. “I was very proud of that – the difference I could make.”

Added Dale, “Our job as staff is to help them be successful. I always appreciated seeing the students walk across the stage at commencement – the ones you thought might not make it. It’s an emotional experience.”