President Roloff congratulates Keetha Vue '16, who was honored with the Presidents' Student Leadership Award. Photo by D'Ann Urbaniak Lesch.
The Minnesota Campus Compact’s Annual Summit and Awards ceremony drew 300 administrators, faculty, staff, students and community leaders from across Minnesota to celebrate good work and gives attendees the opportunity to connect as well as share information and strategies that advance community engagement on their campuses.
The Minnesota Campus Compact Presidents’ Awards gives presidents and chancellors the opportunity to recognize effective leaders in the development of campus-community partnerships. The ceremony honored two St. Catherine individuals along with the University’s founders, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.
Keetha Vue ’16 was honored with the Presidents’ Student Leadership Award that is presented to an individual student or a student organization that models a deep commitment to civic responsibility and leadership and that demonstrate initiative, innovative and collaborative approaches to addressing public issues, effective community building, and integration of civic engagement into the college experience. Vue brought experience, thoughtfulness and a passion for positive community change in her administrative support role for nearly 200 St. Kate’s Career Ready interns. In addition, she worked at Breaking Free, Neighborhood House and Little Sisters of the Poor while a student at ÑÇÉ«Ó°¿â. She graduated in December of 2016 and currently works at Karen Organization of Minnesota.
Former Executive Vice-President/COO Brian Bruess was honored with the Presidents' Steward Award recognizing individual faculty, administration or staff that has significantly advanced their campus’ distinctive civic mission by forming strong partnerships, supporting others’ civic engagement and working to institutionalize a culture and practice of engagement.
Bruess was honored for his support of community engagement and leadership in the creation of the St. Catherine Center for Community Work and Learning in 1999. Earlier this year, he was named president of St. Norbert College in Wisconsin. He had served at St. Kate’s since 1995.
The Work/Ministries of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet were recognized with the Presidents’ Community Partner Award for enhancing the quality of life in the community in meaningful and measurable ways. More than 100 students each year engage in the community efforts of the Sisters of St. Joseph, including the ministries Celeste’s Dream, Learning in Style, St. Mary’s Health Clinics, Sarah’s… an Oasis, Carondelet Village and Peace House Community.