CSB Commencement set for May 9

04/22/2009

Belinda Jensen, chief meteorologist for KARE 11-TV, the NBC affiliate in Minneapolis and St. Paul,  will deliver the commencement address during the 94^th annual commencement ceremony at the College of Saint Benedict at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 9 in the Clemens Field House/Haehn Campus Center on the CSB campus, St. Joseph.

During the commencement ceremony, CSB will present its President’s Medal to Tony Reveles, director of college and financial aid counseling at Bell High School in Los Angeles, Cal. ; and Tom and Joyce Schlough, owners of Park Industries in Waite Park, Minn., and generous community philanthropists. Andrea Carrow, a Spanish major from Marshall, Minn., will be the student commencement speaker, as selected by this year’s CSB senior class.

The 2009 CSB graduation class includes 511 women, which is the largest class in school history. When combined with Saint John’s University’s 419 undergraduate men, this year’s combined undergraduate graduating class of 930 is the second-largest class (tied with the 2005 combined undergraduate class).

Jensen joined KARE-11 TV as a meteorologist in September 1993 and became the station’s chief meteorologist in December 2005. In addition, she has served as a co-host of KARE-11’s Saturday program for 16 years and is currently the morning meteorologist for K102 (KEEY 102.1) and Cities 97 (KTCZ  97.1) radio stations.

Jensen obtained her AMS Seal of Approval for broadcast meteorology and has worked for the National Weather Service. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison with a Bachelor of Science degree in atmospheric science. She has also done graduate work in secondary education through the University of Utah. Jensen enjoys serving her community through involvement in numerous charities, and works hard to involve students, particularly girls, in science.

Reveles, one of the President’s Medal honorees, has helped many students realize they have the ability to be the first in their family to receive a higher education. Students view Reveles as an advocate for their future. He helps them find solutions to the obstacles, often financial, they encounter as they apply for college. In the last four years, more than a dozen Bell High School graduates have attended the College of Saint Benedict or Saint John’s University.

Tom and Joyce Schlough, the other President’s Medal honorees, have an unwavering interest in philanthropy and have promoted three areas of giving to Park Industries employees: community, families and education, which is demonstrated through their generosity to CSB and many other community organizations. They created the Thomas and Joyce Schlough Family Scholarship Fund at College of Saint Benedict and have supported Fine Arts Programming, Blazer athletics, the Annual Fund, construction of the Ardolf Science Center and student scholarships. Currently, Tom serves as the secretary of CSB’s Board of Trustees.

The President’s Medal is awarded to those members of the CSB community who have demonstrated extraordinary loyalty, dedication and service to the college and its mission of liberal arts education in the Benedictine tradition. Recipients receive a symbolic representation of the President’s Medal that exhibits the seal of the college.

Last year, the medal was presented to Nancy Ehlen, an artist, nature enthusiast and philanthropist who has been a strong voice for the importance of art education and the value of public engagement in the fine arts.

Additional past winners of the award have included the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict, founders of the college; and Jacquelynn and Sylvester “Shorty” Haehn, long-time supporters and for whom the S. L. Haehn Campus Center is named.