Mary Hughes Mathews ‘66 forges bonds between neighbors, city and university

09/29/2009

It was the mid-1970s, and the other four houses on the even side of the 300 block of Third Avenue South were occupied by families, not unlike the house where she and her husband, Tom, raised their four children.

Today, Mathews looks across the street and points to the one house that isn’t a rental property. That demographic change represents one way St. Cloud State University has impacted the city’s south side.

It’s also one reason Mathews became involved in preserving her neighborhood and improving relations between the university, the city and neighbors who increasingly were feeling like they were being overrun in their own backyards.

“It was what was happening right under our noses,” she said of the changes that got her involved, “and then you start to wonder ‘Where have I been?’”

It’s what she’s doing these days that brings Mathews praise from nearly all the stakeholders on the south side.

Her passion and commitment to preserving the south side campus neighborhood have helped forge new bonds between the city, university and neighbors.

And while her work is a continuation of what others started decades ago, she brings an undeniable energy and credibility to the discourse at a time when the constituents are more galvanized than ever before.

“It is hard to overstate Mary’s importance in the partnership that has developed between the university and the community,” said St. Cloud State President Earl H. Potter III. “She has long held the notion that a partnership was possible and believed, in fact, that it was the only way to improve conditions in the immediately surrounding neighborhoods.”

While those partnerships have enjoyed successes and a few bumps in the road, there continues to be more work to do to eliminate the nuisances that detract from quality of life and give St. Cloud State and the city a bad reputation.

At the center of that work is Mathews, a Cathedral High School and College of St. Benedict graduate who spent time teaching before turning to volunteering and raising a family. She watched the changes to the neighborhood surrounding the Mathews home mostly from afar, as others addressed the issues developing on the south side.

As her children grew and began lives of their own, she found herself with more time to devote to preserving the neighborhood.

There had been some important successes, she said, citing creation of the historic preservation commission and the Barden Park Master Plan.

“But the fight was always hard and frustrating, and trust between our decreasing number of neighbors, the city and the university was basically nonexistent,” she said. “Neighbors were tiring. I thought maybe I could help — at least I had time, energy and fewer battle scars. And we all wanted to have hope.”

She eventually became chair of the Neighborhood University Community Council and a member of the South Side University Neighborhood Association. Attendance at NUCC meetings has grown from less than 10 five years ago to close to 30 at a typical meeting now. The finger-pointing and blame that had the potential to derail those meetings has been minimized and often replaced with respectful dialogue and inclusion of everyone’s opinions.

“We used to hardly get people to come to a meeting. And now we pack a room in Atwood and bring in extra chairs, and people are freely sharing what’s going on in the neighborhood,” said Loren Boone, NUCC member and assistant vice president for marketing and communications at St. Cloud State.

He credits Mathews for much of that change. And while Mathews deflects that praise and credits others, her influence is what is needed at a crucial time, said Rich Kelly, president of the St. Cloud Historic & Neighborhood Preservation Association.

Never before has there been the level of cooperation between the university and the city as now, he said. And there hasn’t been as much of a focus by those stakeholders on the surrounding neighborhoods before, either, he said.

“Things are different. It’s a different era now,” Kelly said. “There’s a focus on the neighborhood that I haven’t seen before and it’s not adversarial.”

He credits years of previous work for laying the groundwork that has led to recent progress. It’s not like Mathews showed up and changed everything herself, he said. But, he acknowledges, she does the hard work, attends the obscure meetings and knows what the various neighborhood groups are doing and how they interconnect.

“She’s well-connected and knows everybody. She’s everyone’s Mom or Grandma, and you can’t have harsh words with her,” Kelly said.

Sgt. Jim Steve has worked closely with Mathews during the last two years as the police department’s liaison to the university.

Mathews listens to everyone’s concerns and is focused on an overriding concern of providing a tranquil, peaceful environment where parents can raise their families, he said.

“She is actually the glue that keeps the residents at the table and lets their voices be heard,” Steve said.

Said Mathews: “Trust and friendship and respect hold sway, and we take the time to listen to and learn from one another, even when it is hard to do so.”

And she has no problem being critical, either, whether it’s with the city, the university or the local newspaper. Mathews wrote the Times to disagree with an editorial that said the university was overreaching with its decision to apply its code of conduct to off-campus behavior among students.

“Not everybody is willing to step up to the plate like she has and ask the tough questions,” Steve said.

At age 65, Mathews insists she’s not going anywhere anytime soon — either to live somewhere else or to end her work with the neighborhood organizations. And while there remain problems, there also have been solutions.

“After years of neighbors doing the hard ‘spade work,’ I think we are seeing results,” she said. “The neighbors are not alone anymore in having a vision for this unique, historic, university neighborhood. This is our time, and we can’t let up.”

It would be difficult to replace the institutional memory that Mathews brings to the area, Boone said.

“Whenever I’m asked about who from the neighborhood needs to be involved or invited to a particular meeting or event, the first name out of my mouth is Mary Mathews,” he said. “In many ways she really is the neighborhood.”