Saint Mary’s University honors Rochester couple with Heritage Award April 12

Remicks pledge $8 million gift for scholarships

Jack and Mary Ann Remick of Rochester received the Saint Mary’s University Heritage Award from Brother William Mann, president of Saint Mary’s, during the university’s annual Benefactor Recognition Dinner April 12. At the event, the couple’s recent $8 million scholarship donation was announced.

WINONA, Minn. — Jack and Mary Ann Remick of Rochester, Minn., were presented with the Saint Mary’s University Heritage Award for Transformational Philanthropy April 12 at the university’s annual Benefactor Recognition Dinner. The Heritage Award recognizes special individuals whose exceptional philanthropy has significantly transformed the university and positioned Saint Mary’s for a second century of excellence in education.

In one demonstration of this extraordinary generosity, it was announced Saturday that the Remicks have committed $8 million to be used for scholarships. This gift — the largest single donation ever pledged to Saint Mary’s — will be directed to the university’s First Generation Initiative. Mary Ann currently serves as chair of the First Generation Initiative advisory board, and the Remicks are long-time supporters of FGI and its Countdown to College program, which prepares first generation high-schoolers for college. Their financial contributions to this program have helped many young students reach their academic dreams.

The Remicks are inspirational champions of education and long-time supporters of Saint Mary’s University. Jack and Mary Ann have served on the Saint Mary’s Board of Trustees for a combined 15 years and counting (Jack from 1999 to 2004 and Mary Ann beginning in 2004).

Their true passion lies in making education accessible and affordable for new generations of learners. The two formed the Saint Mary’s University Remick Fellows program in 1998, through which aspiring and current Catholic schoolteachers and administrators receive financial support and encouragement.

“It was Jack’s strong feeling that we started the Countdown to College program to help these kids — who come from challenging backgrounds — prepare for college, and they’ve worked really hard and they’ve done really well,” Mary Ann Remick said. “We really felt that we couldn’t let these kids down. We promised them an opportunity at a good college education. It has been a real joy to watch them become these very competent, capable seniors in high school who can now successfully move on to college.”

“The Heritage Award is only given to those who have exhibited ‘transformational philanthropy.’ There are no other words that could begin to define the work that the Remicks have done at Saint Mary’s. Their gifts ensure that bright young students with economic challenges, but also endless potential, be given the opportunity to excel academically,” Brother William Mann, president of Saint Mary’s, said. “This has been our ongoing dream that every student who has a desire to attend college have the opportunity to do so. We are so very grateful that the Remicks have shared in our educational vision.”

“It really is an honor and a privilege to be given the Heritage Award,” Mary Ann Remick added. “We aren’t alums, but we have come to really love and appreciate Saint Mary’s and the people who are there, and they’ve allowed us to help them dream.”

Zumbathon® Nov. 10 to raise funds for First-Generation Initiative at SMU

WINONA, Minn. — Get fit while raising money for scholarships! On Saturday, Nov. 10, the public is invited to a Zumbathon® fundraiser from 4 to 5 p.m. at Saint Mary’s University. The event will be held in the SMU gymnasium and freewill donations will benefit the university’s First-Generation Initiative, which provides full scholarships to high-need, high-potential qualified students who are the first in their families to attend college. Alyssa Gostomski Carter, a 1998 alumna, is organizing the event, with help from Lisa Ziebell and Sondra Howard from Z’s Studio in Winona. Carter is being supported by MetroBeat Fitness and Dance in Minneapolis. This is the second year that she is spearheading a Zumbathon® to help raise awareness and funds for the First-Generation Initiative.

Matching grant helps SMU First-Generation Initiative raise $250,000 for scholarships

WINONA, Minn. — Through a generous matching grant, Rochester benefactors Jack and Mary Ann Remick have helped Saint Mary’s University raise $250,000 for First-Generation Initiative scholarships in 2012.

In January, the Remicks, longtime supporters of Saint Mary’s, gifted the university a $100,000 matching grant to raise funds for the First-Generation Initiative. This program provides full scholarships — and continuous support — to low-income, high-potential, qualified students, with preference given to Saint Mary’s Lasallian partner schools.

Brother Ed Siderewicz, director of the First-Generation Initiative, said that by early April the university met the $100,000 challenge and surpassed it, bringing the current total to approximately $250,000.

“Mary Ann Remick is chair of our First-Generation Advisory Board,” Siderewicz said. “She wanted others to learn about and consider supporting the program. These generous funds enable us to make commitments this fall to a new group of First-Generation students who would otherwise never have the opportunity to go to college.

“Working with inner-city high schools,” he said, “we identify promising minority youth who are at risk of dropping out of school, largely because of their dangerous environment, under-resourced communities, and lack of understanding about how higher education opportunities can be accessed.”

After identifying the best candidates as early as the ninth grade, Saint Mary’s invites these students to spend a portion of each summer at the Winona campus Countdown to College Program. When they obtain their high school diplomas, these students are then eligible for a full college scholarship.

Although First-Generation students are mainstreamed, they also have the specialized academic and social support they need to excel in school.

To learn more about the First-Generation Initiative, contact Siderewicz at esiderew@smumn.edu or (507) 457-6683. To read more about this program, go to www.firsgenerationstories.org.

SMU receives funds from IME-Becas to help Mexican students

Jessica de la Rosa, a SMU alum and admissions counselor, and Brother Ed Siderewicz, Assistant to the President for First Generation and LaSallian Initiatives

WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary’s University was one of three universities selected by the Consulate of Mexico in the Twin Cities to receive scholarship funding for Mexican and Mexican-American students. Mexican Consul Ana Luisa Fajer recognized recipients of the IME-Becas 2011/2012 Program at a ceremony in Minneapolis on Aug. 24.

Receiving funds from the Institute for Mexicans Abroad were: Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota; Centro, Inc.; Latino Economic Development Center; Minnesota State University, Mankato; and Saint Catherine’s University. Saint Mary’s received $9,000 for scholarships.

The objective of the IME-Becas 2011/2012 Program is to help raise the education level within the Mexican population in the United States. The Consulate of Mexico formed a Minnesota committee to determine the assignation of the funds to the selected institutions.

Saint Mary’s University’s First-Generation Initiative offers academic, personal and financial support to first-generation college students — many of whom are Hispanic and Latino — as they transition to higher education.

This committee based its decisions on the following criteria:

• The selected institutions have programs available to Mexican students or students of Mexican origin to pursue higher education.

• Institutions are able to match or improve the funds.

• There would be no indirect expenses affecting the allocated funds

• The selection process considered geographic diversity, as well as diverse professional opportunities for students in the Twin Cities area, as well as outside the metropolitan area where there is a significant number of Mexican people.

Saint Mary’s director of conferencing, camps to compete in Dancing with Winona Stars

WINONA, Minn. — Forty local “stars” — including Terrie Lueck, Saint Mary’s University’s director of conferencing and camps — are getting ready to dance the night away for charity this summer during the third annual Dancing with Winona Stars Saturday, Aug. 13, at SMU’s Gostomski Fieldhouse. The pre-show begins at 7 p.m., and the competition begins at 7:30 p.m.

Lueck and her dance partner Kenyatta Blount will dance freestyle to “2012 (It ain’t the end)” by Jay Sean and Nicki Minaj.

Lueck is raising money for the First-Generation Initiative at Saint Mary’s University.

The First-Generation Initiative is designed to offer full scholarship, academic and personal support to first-generation college students from under-resourced communities. As part of this initiative, support structures have been put in place at SMU so that students may reach their full potential and complete their bachelor’s degrees. Thirteen First-Generation students have completed their first year of studies at SMU; this fall the university will welcome 16 additional students.

“I went into this thinking I would be dancing ballroom style. Dancing freestyle is a challenge for me because it’s out of my comfort zone, but that seems very appropriate considering the challenges of the First-Generation students I am raising money for,” Lueck said.

“The students I am representing are also moving beyond their comfort zone as they come to Saint Mary’s as first-generation college students in their families. They don’t have the benefit of asking family members how to prepare for the experience. Some have never left home, some have language barriers, many struggle economically and some are socially challenged.

“This has been a lot of hard work, just as it will be in the fall for these First-Generation students,” she said. “I hope they find it to be as enjoyable as I have!”

Half of the proceeds from the event benefit the non-profit selected by each “star.” The remaining 50 percent supports members of the Competition Dance Team at Gotta Dance.
Votes are $1 apiece. You can cast your vote with the star, through the charity (like First-Generation Initiative at Saint Mary's University), or with a Gotta Dance competition student or parent, or mail your vote to Gotta Dance/DWWS 1733 Service Dr, Winona, MN 55987.

Checks for both tickets and votes should be made out to Gotta Dance. For charitable giving, you can write in the memo line, for example, “50% for First-Generation Initiative.” This memo should be noted ONLY for checks made out for votes. Ticket sales do not apply to this charitable status. Voting canisters are also located at various locations throughout the community.

Last year over 1,000 people attended the show and more than $10,000 was raised for local charities.

This year’s event will feature 11 individual stars dancing with Gotta Dance Instructors and five star groups that will be performing a variety of styles from rhumba to hip hop.

General admission is $10 in advance or $20 at the door. Seating starts at 7 p.m. Early admission is $25 and includes admission from 5 to 6:30 p.m., hors d’oeuvres and access to a cash bar. Reserved tables are available for $250. This price includes seating for eight, early admission, hors d’oeuvres and the cash bar.

For more information, visit www.dancingwithwinonastars.com or call Gotta Dance at (507) 474-7077.

Ninth-graders prepare early to succeed in college

First-generation students from underserved communities
immersed in college life during new Saint Mary’s program

WINONA, Minn. — Twenty-five 9th-graders from Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Tucson, Ariz., will get a head start on college success this summer, thanks to a first-of-its-kind program offered by Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.

From July 24 to Aug. 7, the university’s Countdown to College academic camp will provide these students (and teachers from their home schools) with activities that will help them prepare for successful college experiences. Countdown to College will boost students’ skills, confidence and knowledge of how to negotiate the social and academic world of college.

Countdown to College offers free classes, recreation, field trips, and room and board. Saint Mary’s plans to welcome back the same students for four consecutive summers. Each year a new group of 9th graders will be selected to participate in the Countdown to College experience, resulting in a total camp population of 100 9th- through 12th-graders by the fourth summer.

“To our knowledge, this is the first program in the nation that offers four consecutive years of early immersion in the college experience,” said Dr. Jane Anderson, dean of the School of Education for Saint Mary’s University, who helped develop the program.

Why the program is needed

Currently, about one of every two economically disadvantaged youth of color in the U.S. does not graduate from high school. Only a small percentage of Latinos and African Americans have college degrees. This is the reality even as demand is rising for better-educated workers who can function in today’s technologically complex global economy.

“Countdown to College is designed to ensure college success for first-generation students whose parents did not have the opportunity to go to college,” said Dr. Anderson. “First-generation students, many of them students of color from underserved schools and communities, are at an economic and educational disadvantage when it comes to reaching and finishing college. These are all factors that are known to significantly limit their ability to attend and succeed in college.”

Countdown to College highlights

Countdown to College seeks to break down the barriers to higher education by exposing youth directly to the college experience for two weeks each summer for four straight years. The first summer, each day will be filled with college orientation and classes in reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary, math and leadership. Their schedules will also include supervised study halls, academic contests, sports, recreation, and field trips. Other college preparation subjects, such as science, will be added in subsequent years.

One of the most distinctive aspects of the program is that it includes a teacher or staff representative from each of the participating students’ schools. They will co-teach the classes alongside Saint Mary’s instructors. This will help prepare the university instructors to work with an increasingly diverse population of college students. In turn, the visiting teachers learn how to set their students up for success in college and how to help create a community of support around the students.

The participants in Countdown to College attend schools in the Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago and Tucson metropolitan areas. Preference is given to graduates of Saint Mary’s middle school partners in the NativityMiguel Network of Jesuit and Christian Brothers’ schools, which are located in those cities.

Countdown to College is funded for 2010-2013 by a generous donation from Jack and Mary Ann Remick of Rochester, Minn., who are long-time supporters of Saint Mary’s University. Mary Ann Remick is also the chairwoman of Saint Mary’s First-Generation Advisory Board.

Part of the broader ‘First-Generation Initiative’

Countdown to College is the foundation segment of Saint Mary’s broader First-Generation Initiative to improve college access and success.

“Countdown to College and our First-Generation Initiative reflect Saint Mary’s mission to make higher education accessible to learners, regardless of their financial situations,” said Brother William Mann, president of Saint Mary’s University.

Countdown to College graduates will receive preferential consideration to participate in Saint Mary’s First-Generation Initiative program, which provides college scholarships, and educational support to first-generation students who demonstrate financial need as well as leadership and academic potential. Beginning this fall, up to 15 students are eligible to receive full four-year scholarships. These scholarships will provide full financial support for tuition, room and board, books, computer, spending money, and one semester of study abroad.

“Students participating in Countdown to College may potentially become part of Saint Mary’s First-Generation Initiative scholarship program, which would be a seamless continuation of support for these students,” said Brother Edmund Siderewicz, assistant to the president for First-Generation and Lasallian Initiatives. “We want to provide full scholarships and opportunities for our First-Generation students – study abroad, internships, life to the fullest – because we know these students have the potential to accomplish great things.”