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Bemidji State University

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Bemidji State University(BSU) is apublic universityinBemidji, Minnesota,United States. Founded as a preparatory institution for teachers in 1919, it provides higher education to north-central Minnesota. It is part of theMinnesota State Colleges and Universitiessystem.

Bemidji State University
Former names
Bemidji State Normal School (1919–1921)
Bemidji State Teachers College (1921–1957)
Bemidji State College (1957–1975)
TypePublic university
Established1919;105 years ago(1919)
Parent institution
Minnesota State system
Academic affiliations
Space-grant
Endowment$22.8 million (2016)[1]
Budget$98 million (2019)[2]
PresidentJohn Hoffman
ProvostAllen Bedford
Academic staff
246
Students6,354[3]
Undergraduates5,912
Postgraduates437
Location
Bemidji
,
Minnesota
,
United States

47°28′54″N94°52′32″W/ 47.48175°N 94.87557°W/47.48175; -94.87557
CampusSmall city
ColorsHunter green and white[4]
NicknameBeavers
Sporting affiliations
NCAA
MascotBucky the Beaver
Websitewww.bemidjistate.edu

History

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Deputy Hall in 1919, Bemidji State University

BSU was founded in 1919 and opened under the nameBemidji State Normal School.The first president, Manfred Deputy, was appointed to run the new institution,[5]and the first class consisted of 38 students. The name was changed toBemidji State Teachers Collegein 1921, then shortened toBemidji State Collegein 1957. In 1975, it took its current name, Bemidji State University.[6]During the 1998–99 academic year, the Board of Trustees recommended changing the name of the university to Minnesota State University–Bemidji, to reflect a change toward unification within the newly formedMinnesota State Colleges and Universities Systemafter other larger institutions had done so. Prominent vocal and written opposition from students,alumni,and local Bemidji residents forced the board to withdraw the recommendation to change the name.

Current enrollment[when?]is about 5,300, with students from 44 US states and 40 countries.

Presidents

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Faith Hensrud was named Bemidji State University's eleventh president on April 20, 2016, and took office on July 1, 2016. She previously worked at theUniversity of Wisconsin-Superior,having served as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs since 2012.[7]On August 13, 2021, Hensrud announced she would retire effective June 30, 2022.[8]

There have been twelve presidents in the history of Bemidji State University.[9]

President Years of service
1 Manfred W. Deputy 1919–1938
2 C.R. Sattgast 1938–1964
3 Harry F. Bangsberg 1964–1967
4 R.D. Decker 1968–1980
5 Rebecca Stafford 1980–1982
6 Lowell Gillett 1982–1990
7 Leslie Duly 1990–1993
8 M. James Bensen 1994–2001
9 Jon E. Quistgaard 2001–2010
10 Richard Hanson 2010–2016
11 Faith Hensrud 2016–2022
12 John Hoffman 2022–present[10]

Academics

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Deputy Hall in 2024

Bemidji State University offers 47 different areas of study.[11]Many courses are available online. BSU offers the onlyBFAin professional and creative writing in the Minnesota State system. The program includes a minor and certificates in electronic writing, consisting of courses inweblogs,wikis,web content writing,web design,digital rhetoric, and teaching writing with technology. Another unique program at Bemidji State University is the Indigenous Sustainability Studies degree; this is the only such program in the United States.[12]Bemidji State also has a 96% rate of social work majors passing their licensing exams compared to the 76% rate for the entire state. In addition, Sattgast Hall is home to a number of natural sciences programs and pre-professional studies.

Academic rankings
Master's
Washington Monthly[13]455
Regional
U.S. News & World Report[14]92
National
Forbes[15]RNP

Bemidji State University accepts approximately 60% of students that apply. They also have an Honors Program which offers classes specific to participating students. Students from their honors program attend regional conferences.[16]

Foreign programs

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For 16 years BSU has had a relationship withLiaoning University,a university inChina.Each year a professor from Liaoning University goes to BSU to teach Chinese and each summer BSU students participate in "Sino-Summer", a month-long visit to China with half of the time spent at Liaoning University and half touring other parts of China includingBeijing,Xi'anandGuilin.

Student life

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Student body composition as of May 2, 2022
Race and ethnicity[17] Total
White 82% 82
Other[a] 6% 6
Native American 3% 3
Hispanic 3% 3
Black 3% 3
Foreign national 2% 2
Asian 1% 1
Economic diversity
Low-income[b] 31% 31
Affluent[c] 69% 69

Student government

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The Bemidji State University Student Association holds weekly meetings where the student senate influences life on campus. The members of the student senate are from a diverse group of students based on a number of factors including their year in school. They are voted in by the students through popular elections.[18]

Clubs and organizations

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Bemidji State University provides over 100 clubs and organizations, both on and off campus.[19] These clubs include interests in music, art, culture, outdoors, business, engineering, athletics, faith, and select majors and minors for students interested in research. Bemidji State only has two active Greek life organizations on campus, Theta Tau Epsilon Fraternity and Delta Theta Kappa Sorority.[20]

Residence halls

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Pine Hall

The university has five residence halls (Linden, Pine, Birch, Oak, and Tamarack), as well as Cedar and University Heights apartments.[21]Freshmen are required to live in either Oak Hall or Tamarack Hall, with few exceptions. Linden offers suites that house two to three people. Pine has single-gender floors with single rooms or two person dorms. Birch is the closest dorms to the academic buildings, and has single and double dorm rooms. Cedar Apartments offers single parents a place to live on campus. It provides a fenced outdoor playground and an indoor play area for children. Tamarack Hall is the tallest building inBeltrami County.[22]

Sustainability

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Bemidji State University is taking steps to reduce their environmental impact and have pledged to be carbon-neutral by 2050. They have an office on campus devoted to sustainability efforts. The sustainability office provides a bike rental service for students called "Bucky's Bikes" and a place where items may be donated and are given away to students at no charge. The Sustainability Office is funded by a student "green fee" of $7.50 a semester.[23]

Homecoming tradition

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In a tradition dating back to the mid-1990s, anytime the team wins homecoming, the players run from the football stadium to nearby Lake Bemidji and dive in.[24]The tradition dates to 1995 when Bemidji State upset the defending conference championWinona State Universityin the homecoming game and took their first "victory dip" in the lake. The roots of the tradition date back two years earlier however when, in 1993, an assistant coach attempted to inspire the winless team. He wrote a fictional news story of the upcoming homecoming game.[24]In his account, the team earned an upset homecoming victory and dove into Lake Bemidji in celebration. A real-world victory didn't happen in 1993, nor 1994, but when homecoming victory came in 1995 it was time to get wet. Between 1995 and 2012 the Beavers have won twelve of the seventeen homecoming games.[24]

Student publications and news sources

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Bemidji State University has several student-run publications and news sources. They includeCRE8magazine, theNorthern Student Magazine,and KBSU-TV, KBSU FM 90.[25][26]

CRE8showcases creative works by writers and artists from northern Minnesota.[27]CRE8 acceptsfiction and nonfiction submissions with a word count of 4,000 or less and poetry submissions of 75 lines or less per poem.[28]English instructorMaureen Gibboncreated the online magazine.[29]

In 2019, the English department launched the new student publicationPaper Plains,with Maureen Gibbon in position as the academic advisor.[30]

The Northern Studentbecame Bemidji State's campus newspaper in 1926. Since its conception, the newspaper has been solely staffed and managed by students, as well as published and distributed weekly at no charge to its readers.[31]In the early 70s, theNorthern Studentmerged with the Mass Comm. Dept. at the influence of James McMahon, the public relations director for Bemidji State at the time, who also served as the newspaper's adviser. In 1988, the newspaper was produced through Newspaper Production, a three-credit Mass Comm. course taught and advised by Louise Mengelkoch. During this period, theNorthern Studentstopped receiving funds from the Student Activity Fee Allocation Committee, and was produced strictly on advertising revenue.[31]After a lawsuit, theNorthern Studentand Mass Comm. Dept. separated in 1992, and the newspaper relocated to the Hobson Memorial Union. Al Nohner, director of Communications and Marketing, created a media board of faculty, students, and community members to choose future editors-in-chief and advisers, as well as to advise the newspaper. A few years later, theNorthern Studentbegan receiving funds from the Student Activity Fee Allocation Committee again.[31]For over a decade theNorthern Studentfunctioned outside the Mass Comm. Dept. In the fall of 2009, the paper was without an adviser. After the paper was threatened with a lawsuit, the media board appointed an adviser, who was forced to retire less than a year later.[31]In May 2010, the newspaper returned to the Mass Comm. Dept., the media board was disbanded, and a new adviser from the Mass Comm. Dept. was appointed. During the following fall, theNorthern Studentbriefly partnered with theBemidji Pioneerfor advertising and began placing issues of theBemidji Pioneerinside theNorthern Student.After three months of publication, it was determined that the two newspapers should remain completely separate.[31]

Athletics

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Main article:Bemidji State Beavers

The school sports teams are called the Beavers. They are members of theNorthern Sun Intercollegiate Conferencecompeting inNCAA Division II,with the exception of men's and women'sice hockeyteams, which compete in theCentral Collegiate Hockey Associationand theWestern Collegiate Hockey Associationat theNCAA Division Ilevel, respectively.

Notable alumni

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  • Alumni Arch
  • Memorial Hall
  • Chet Anderson Stadium
  • Baseball field Grandstand
  • Harry F. Bangsberg Fine Arts Complex
  • Hobson Union--Beaux Arts Ballroom
  • Physical Education Complex
  • Tamarack Hall
  • Message sign
  • American Indian Resource Center

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Other consists ofMultiracial Americans& those who prefer to not say.
  2. ^The percentage of students who received an income-based federalPell grantintended for low-income students.
  3. ^The percentage of students who are a part of theAmerican middle classat the bare minimum.
Wikimedia Commons has media related toBemidji State University.

References

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  1. ^"Rob Bollinger Retiring as BSU Alumni and Foundation Executive Director".Bemidji State University News.Bemidji State University.Retrieved11 March2018.
  2. ^"2019 Minnesota State Legislative Databook"(PDF).Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System website.Minnesota State System.RetrievedDecember 5,2019.
  3. ^Hertel, Nora (October 22, 2019)."How has enrollment at Minnesota State schools changed in a decade?".St. Cloud Times.Retrieved5 December2019.
  4. ^Manual for Visual Identity Standards(PDF).Retrieved2016-04-28.
  5. ^Arthur O. Lee."Paternalistic President: Manfred W. Deputy of Bemidji State College"(PDF).Retrieved2016-04-28.
  6. ^"History | About | Bemidji State University".Bemidjistate.edu.Retrieved2016-04-28.
  7. ^"Hensrud Prepares to Lead | BSU News | Bemidji State University".Bemidjistate.edu. 2016-05-16.Retrieved2016-07-18.
  8. ^"Dr. Faith C. Hensrud Announces Retirement as President of Bemidji State".Bemidji State University. 2021-08-13.Retrieved2021-12-07.
  9. ^"The presidents of BSU".The Bemidji Pioneer. 2016-04-20.Retrieved2016-07-18.
  10. ^"Dr. John Hoffman Named President of BSU and NTC | News | Bemidji State University".www.bemidjistate.edu.
  11. ^"Majors & Minors".Bemidji State University.Retrieved26 April2018.
  12. ^"Niizhoo-gwayakochigewin | Bemidji State University".www.bemidjistate.edu.Retrieved2019-09-24.
  13. ^"2024 Master's Universities Rankings".Washington Monthly.August 25, 2024.RetrievedAugust 29,2024.
  14. ^"2024-2025 Best Regional Universities Rankings".U.S. News & World Report.September 23, 2024.RetrievedNovember 22,2024.
  15. ^"America's Top Colleges 2024".Forbes.September 6, 2024.RetrievedSeptember 10,2024.
  16. ^"Honors Program".Bemidji State University.Retrieved26 April2018.
  17. ^"College Scorecard: Bemidji State University".United States Department of Education.RetrievedMay 8,2022.
  18. ^"Student Senate".Bemidji State University.Retrieved27 April2018.
  19. ^"Organizations".BeaverLink.Retrieved26 April2018.
  20. ^"Student Clubs".Student Clubs.Retrieved26 April2018.
  21. ^"Housing & Residential Life".Bemidji State University.Retrieved27 April2018.
  22. ^"Tamarack Hall | Housing & Residential Life | Bemidji State University".www.bemidjistate.edu.Retrieved2019-09-24.
  23. ^"Sustainability".Bemidji State University.Retrieved27 April2018.
  24. ^abcForde, Pat (2 October 2012)."Forde-Yard Dash: Look before you leap".Yahoo Sports.Retrieved2 October2012.
  25. ^"CRE8 | English | Bemidji State University".www.bemidjistate.edu.Retrieved2016-03-30.
  26. ^"Student-Run Media | Mass Communication | Bemidji State University".www.bemidjistate.edu.Retrieved2016-03-30.
  27. ^"About CRE8".cre8.9 August 2012.Retrieved2016-03-30.
  28. ^"Submit".cre8.9 August 2012.Retrieved2016-03-30.
  29. ^"Publishing students launch CRE8here.com magazine".bemidjistate.edu.Retrieved2 April2018.
  30. ^"Students Create" Paper Plains "to Tell Stories of Friendship, Love & Mental Health".Bemidji State University.Retrieved2020-01-06.
  31. ^abcde"About – The Northern Student".The Northern Student.Retrieved2016-03-30.
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