St. Thomas President Julie Sullivan and the St. Thomas Undergraduate Student Government held a student town hall meeting over Zoom Thursday night to update St. Thomas community members on the transition from Division III to Division I, the new STEAM Complex, the university’s 2025 strategic plan, commencement, study abroad amid COVID-19, sustainability initiatives and changes to residence life.

Current and future MIAC competition

Winter sports such as women’s and men’s basketball, track and field, and women’s and men’s hockey started competition at the end of January. St. Thomas athletic director Phil Esten said student athletes are regularly tested for COVID-19 and are trying to stay as safe as possible while continuing to play.

Esten also said he wants winter and fall sports to play this spring. He said it is important for St. Thomas to commemorate 100 years in the MIAC by celebrating the relationships and rivalries the Tommies have created.

“We’re trying very hard to assemble a framework for our fall and spring sports to compete this spring,” Esten said.

This includes the possibility of the Tommie-Johnnie football game taking place this spring. Esten said both schools want to play but also want to stay safe.

“I’ll tell you that St. Thomas and St. John’s both are very motivated to play that game, so I’m hopeful,” Esten said.

Division I athletics

St. Thomas will officially move to NCAA Division I on July 1, 2021, and 19 of the 22 sports at St. Thomas will join the Summit League. Men’s hockey will join the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, women’s hockey will join the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and the football team will join the Pioneer Football League.

“I think that we’ll establish some really neat rivalries (in the Summit League),” Esten said. “The Pioneer Football League, interestingly, is only one of two conferences at the Division I level that is a non-scholarship football conference.”

Esten also mentioned that the WCHA has won 20 of 22 national championships and that three teams in the CCHA are ranked in the top 10 nationally.

Esten said the moves into these conferences and into DI will help St. Thomas expand its brand across the country and help the university recruit and improve its ability to play in front of Tommie alumni around the country.

Esten also said athletics still wants to remain focused on student-athlete success in the classroom and on the field. This is reflected in the incoming recruiting class, as Esten said the average high school GPA is 3.75.

“One thing I’ll tell you that won’t change is our commitment to comprehensive excellence,” Esten said. “The student-athletes are coming in prepared to succeed academically; they’re coming in prepared to succeed athletically.”

Esten said that in the future, changes could be made to where St. Thomas teams play, whether on campus or off, but that in 2021, he doesn’t expect any team to be playing anywhere different. St. Thomas, however, will be looking for ways to improve fan and student experiences at games in the future.

“We will be on the ESPN ticker almost all of the time, we will be on national TV occasionally. We’ll have opportunities to tell the story of the University of St Thomas at a much, much bigger level,” Esten said.

STEAM complex and 2025 strategic plan

Sullivan announced the new St. Thomas 2025 Strategic Plan by mentioning her hopes of the university broadening its reach across the country.

“We’re on a trajectory to become… nationally known as one of the top 10 Catholic universities in this country,” Sullivan said.

The plan hopes to make St. Thomas carbon neutral by the year 2035 and set up more career opportunities for students while they’re still in school.

The announcement included plans for a new STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) complex on south campus that will feature designs that promote sustainability, diversity and inclusion.

“I think it’s going to be a building that you are going to find to be a beautiful home, both as a student and hopefully as an alumni,” Sullivan said.

The design of the building allows for the new School of Nursing to house classes by fall of 2022.

The STEAM complex will also include a new quad similar to that of north campus.

Commencement

St. Thomas faculty and staff hope to have an in-person element for graduation this May, St. Thomas Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Wendy Wyatt said.

The university must still abide by Minnesota Department of Health guidelines when planning the event, but hopes to have as many people as possible at the event.

Wyatt said she expects the ceremony to have both an in-person element and a virtual option.

“What that in-person element looks like I can’t tell you yet, but we know that’s a big piece of what’s important to you” Wyatt said.

More information will be uploaded to the commencement website as decisions are made.

COVID-19 and study abroad

The university hopes to become a COVID-19 vaccine site with community vaccinations taking place before summer begins.

“We would love to be able to vaccinate all of our community members,” St. Thomas Vice President for Student Affairs Karen Lange said.

More than 400 tests were administered in the mass testing last Thursday, February 4 with zero positive results.

“We’re continuing to say the same things we said last semester about washing your hands, social distancing, wearing a mask,” Lange said.

Faculty and staff are staying vigilant for new strains of COVID-19 on campus and have seen no new strains present in on-campus tests.

Two more mass testing opportunities will take place before and after spring break this March through April.

“We encourage you to come get tested at that time and, as always, if you have symptoms, to get tested at the Center for Well-Being,” Lange said.

Wyatt announced there will be no faculty-led study abroad options this summer, but that some students are hopeful to go abroad through St. Thomas approved programs. The university remains optimistic that the Rome Empower program and other study abroad programs can take place in fall 2021 as well as programs being planned for J-Term and spring 2022.

Dowling and Brady Hall renovations

Residence Life announced at the meeting that halls will open up in the near future to allow students to visit between floors as well as into different halls with capacity limits.

Associate Dean of Students and Director of Residence Life Aaron Macke also announced that both Dowling Hall and Brady Hall will be remodeled this summer and next spring. First-year students will move into Brady Hall for the fall 2021 semester while Dowling is redone. Students will then move into a remodeled Dowling Hall over J-Term 2022 and remodeling on Brady Hall will begin to be finished by fall 2022.

“By fall of 2022 Dowling and Brady will be fully online and we’ll have completed our renovations with our first-year space, traditional hall space, and be ready for our two year residency requirement,” Macke said.

The renovations will be inspired by Tommie North and Tommie East.

Scout Mason can be reached at scmason@stthomas.edu.
Cam Kauffman can be reached at cam.kauffman@stthomas.edu.