Centennial Recap: Bemidji State University Closes it’s First Century | News

BSU’s women’s soccer program, under the direction of head coach Jim Stone, assembled an undefeated 2018 regular season (17-0-1 overall, 14-0-1 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) and won an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in its history.

50th Madrigal Dinners — Bemidji State’s Department of Music staged its 50th annual—and final Madrigal Dinners at Bemidji’s Concordia Language Villages between Nov. 30–Dec. 9, 2018. The production re-staged the original 1969 masque written by BSU professor emeritus of music and Madrigal Dinners founder Dr. Paul Brandvik.

Colleen Deel, assistant professor of library & library services, delivered BSU’s final Honors Council lecture of the Spring 2019 semester with a look into the university archives. Deel’s lecture illustrated ways in which the items found in the archives could be used to reconstruct a narrative of the university’s history.

BSU began a new Homecoming tradition in 2019 by lighting the lakeside fireplace on Thursday evening and keeping it lit through the conclusion of the Carl O. Thompson Memorial Concert, BSU’s traditional final event of Homecoming week, on Sunday afternoon.

astor Ron Gladen speaking at the Hagg-Sauer Hall retirement ceremony — More than 70 faculty, staff and community members gathered outside Hagg-Sauer Hall to remember, honor and retire the nearly 50-year-old building. Pastor Ron Gladen, who as a BSU undergraduate took classes taught by both of the building’s namesakes — Dr. Harold T. Hagg and Dr. Philip R. Sauer — spoke at the ceremony and recalled their influences on him.

BSU senior Abbie Newman, an elementary education major from Crosby, attended the hearth lighting with a special connection to the fireplace. Newman said that her great-grandmother, Helen Siegel, was one of the two students chosen to light the fireplace for the first time after its completion in 1932.

The Beltrami County Historical Society opened an exhibit celebrating Bemidji State University’s Centennial year in June 2019. President Faith Hensrud and Gary Rozman, executive director of the BCHS, spoke during an opening reception for the exhibit about BSU’s importance to the Bemidji community throughout history. Items on display in the exhibit include a World War II diary from former BSU President Charles Sattgast, a replica of BSU’s Alumni Arch, records from BSU’s music department and more.

The family of Hobson Memorial Union namesake C.V. Hobson was on hand to help commemorate the union’s 50th anniversary.

The BSU Wind Ensemble played “Ningabiianose,” a fanfare composed especially for BSU’s centennial celebration, at the October Honors Gala.

One of BSU’s last formal events during its Bemidji State Century celebration came in September 2019, when it planted a time capsule intended to be opened by future caretakers of Bemidji State University.

In much the same way that the 1918 time capsule contents provided a priceless look at Bemidji State’s history, the 2019 capsule and its contents will provide a future generation with a look at early 21st century life on campus and in the Bemidji community.

President Hensrud greets a full house at BSU’s annual Honors Gala in October.

Alumni Leaders in the Classroom, one of the signature events at Bemidji State University’s Homecoming weekend, brought more than 20 BSU alumni back into the classroom at their alma mater for panel discussions.

Starting in April 2018, Bemidji State University began a celebration of a truly historic milestone — recognition of its 100th birthday.

Bemidji’s quest to win the right to host Minnesota’s sixth normal school can be traced back to 1906, when Bemidji Schools Superintendent A. P. Ritchie first conceived the idea. Over the next seven years, Bemidji, Cass Lake and Thief River Falls waged a lobbying battle with the state legislature, each trying to make its case as the new school’s home. Cass Lake seemed poised to win the battle in 1909, when the legislature passed a bill awarding the school to Cass Lake. The Cass Lake Times celebrated the decision, running a headline reading “Cass Lake Bill Wins ‘Against the Field.’” Minnesota Governor John A. Johnson vetoed the bill in full, however, saying in his veto message “in my judgment there is no pressing need for the establishment of an additional normal school at this time.”

The battle continued for another four years, with Bemidji finally prevailing and winning the right to host the school in 1913.

Five years later, in June 1919, Bemidji Normal School opened its doors to its first group of students.

Nearly 100 years to the day from when ground was broken for construction of the school’s first building — “The Main,” as it was known, which today still stands as Deputy Hall — Bemidji State University threw a raucous kickoff celebration of its centennial year in the Bangsberg Fine Arts Complex. This issue of Bemidji State University magazine officially brings that celebration to a close.

As we have celebrated this historic and monumental milestone in our history, we’ve also found opportunity to recognize many other significant milestones in this university’s storied history — including the 50th anniversaries of the Hobson Memorial Union, our since-retired holiday Madrigal Dinners production and organized varsity intercollegiate athletics for women. We also acknowledged the 10th anniversary the BSU Sustainability Office.

Centennial Kick-off dancers — Jon “Hondo” ’91 and Suzy Langhout ’93 perform for the more than 100 guests at the April 12, 2018, kickoff for BSU’s centennial celebration at the Bangsberg Fine Arts Complex.

Presidential medallions displayed at the centennial kick off — BSU presidential medallions were among the historical artifacts on display at BSU’s centennial kickoff celebration.

Centennial Plaza ribbon cutting ceremony — President Faith Hensrud, center, along with 2017-18 Student Senate President Ash Ullah, ’18 cut the ribbon at the dedication of the renamed Centennial Plaza. Banners on the plaza’s lamp posts highlight key moments in BSU’s history. Hensrud and Ullah were joined, from left to right, by President Emeritus Jim Bensen, former Associate Vice President for Student Life & Success Jesse Grant, Hobson Memorial Union Director Nina Johnson, former Executive Director of Communications & Marketing Scott Faust and President Emeritus Jon Quistgaard.

An Homage to the Past with an Eye on the Future

Bemidji State University formally launched an 18-month celebration of its 100th anniversary on April 12, 2018, with a full day of activities and special events on campus. The recognition began with a morning history walk reception on the concourse outside the Bangsberg Fine Arts Complex Main Theatre, featuring historical artifacts from the university archives and banners recapping key moments in Bemidji State’s century-long story. A multimedia extravaganza followed, with BSU students performing eraappropriate song and dance routines during intermissions of a video documentary on the university’s history. A luncheon followed at the American Indian Resource Center and an afternoon ceremony renamed the courtyard between the Hobson Memorial Union buildings as “Centennial Plaza.”

A complete look back at the kickoff of “A Bemidji State Century” may be found as the cover story to the Spring/Summer 2018 edition of Bemidji State University magazine. That story, along with the rest of the issue, is available on our website.

Dr. Pat Rosenbrock, Ruth Howe and Betsy McDowell were honored as pioneers of BSU women’s athletics — Howe and McDowell as founders and Rosenbrock as the program’s historian — at the October 2018 social to launch the year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of women’s athletics.

Hensrud pays a visit to Mardy Beck — Mardy Beck, who was unable to attend the kickoff ceremony, received her founder’s certificate during a special Oct. 19 visit from President Hensrud (right).

Women’s Athletics 50th Anniversary

Former and current BSU women’s athletes, coaches, supporters and family packed the American Indian Resource Center’s Gathering Room for an Oct. 6, 2018, social to launch a recognition of the 50th anniversary of varsity intercollegiate athletics for women at Bemidji State. The social, emceed by BSU alumna and retired North Dakota State University Director of Women’s Athletics Lynn Dorn ’72, also recognized four remarkable women for their roles in creating BSU’s women’s intercollegiate athletics program. Dr. Marjory Beck, Dr. Ruth Howe and Betsy McDowell were recognized as founders of women’s athletics, while long-time BSU faculty member and coach Dr. Pat Rosenbrock was celebrated as the program’s historian for her tireless effort to document the history of women’s athletics at the university.

Bemidji State’s journey to the modern, competitive NCAA Division II women’s athletics program it enjoys today began with four sports — basketball, volleyball, field hockey and swimming — in an era when prevailing conventional wisdom dictated that while athletic competition was considered healthy for men, it was “harmful and inappropriate” for women.

BSU also recalled its history as a founding member of the Minn-Kota Conference, one of the first in the nation for women’s athletics, in 1969, its national leadership as a founding member of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women in 1971, and its eventual moves to the Northern Sun Conference and the NCAA.

The celebration culminated in a weekend of activities in August 2019.

1919 Time capsule contents — President Hensrud and members of the BSU Building & Grounds team opened a time capsule left in the cornerstone of Deputy Hall in 1918. Artifacts from the time capsule were publicly unveiled in an exhibit at the university’s Ramsey Gallery in September 2019.

Ramsey Gallery Installation

Bemidji State’s Office of Communications & Marketing opened a showcase of historic artifacts from the university archives and from private contributors in the Ramsey Gallery of the Bangsberg Fine Arts Complex in October 2018. The gallery also featured recreations of banners highlighting decade-by-decade key moments in the university’s history which were used during the Centennial Kickoff in April 2018. The exhibit also included special displays celebrating the 50th anniversaries of both the Madrigal Dinners and women’s intercollegiate athletics, and later was home to artifacts found in the 1918 time capsule left in Deputy Hall’s cornerstone when construction on the building began.