by Frank Lee
operations@thenewsleaders.com
Jaclyn Dinndorf’s first choice for college wasn’t the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, but she was convinced by her mother, a St. Ben’s professor, to give the private school a second look.
Fast forward four years and the Sauk Rapids native found herself surrounded by friends and family on campus just before the 101st annual commencement ceremony May 7.
“I chose St. Ben’s because of the community aspect and how we really do feel like a family,” Dinndorf said near the south entrance of the campus along College Avenue South.
Dinndorf posed for photos along with other graduating seniors before making their way to the Clemens Field House on the campus of St. Ben’s for the commencement ceremony.
“I’m so excited,” Dinndorf said in her cap and gown. “I don’t really have a set plan but mostly find a full-time job.”
She said she would spend the first few hours right after graduation hanging out with her roommates. Dinndorf graduated with a major in communications and a minor in psychology.
“I decided on those because I really enjoy people,” Dinndorf said. “And I love learning about how people interact.”
Her father, Roger, her mother, Georgia, and her older sister, Jennifer, were also in a celebratory mood and playfully took pictures before the commencement ceremony.
“It’s a little bittersweet,” Roger said. “It doesn’t seem like it was that long ago. It seemed like we just moved her here, but that was four years ago and it went by like a shot.”
Alyssa Mastromonaco, the youngest woman to be deputy chief of staff of operations at the White House, was slated to deliver the commencement address.
And Anna Cron, a senior political science and Latino/Latin American studies major from Eden Prairie, was the student commencement speaker, as selected by this year’s senior class, which included 424 women.
“She’s moving on,” Roger said of his younger daughter. “It’s going to be hard, but it’s a great day for her. I just hope she finds something she really enjoys, to put the wonderful things she’s learned to use and find a lifestyle – a job, a career – that fulfills her and makes her happy.”
Georgia Dinndorf-Hogenson is a member of St. Ben’s faculty in its nursing department, but she also graduated from the college.
“I teach medical surgical trauma nursing to the junior and senior nursing students at St. Ben’s,” Georgia said.
Georgia said Jaclyn had wanted to attend a college or university out of state, but Jaclyn was swayed to study at St. Ben’s in part because of the cost savings it would afford the family.
“She looked at San Diego State and five other universities across the nation,” Georgia said. “But she chose St. Ben’s because of the morals and the feel when she came to visit the campus – the smiles, the greetings. It’s just a different feel when you are walking around on campus.”
Roger Dinndorf and his older daughter Jennifer (forefront) take a photo of Jaclyn in her cap and gown before the Sauk Rapids native and family attend the commencement ceremony at the College of St. Benedict on May 7.
From left to right: Molly Minnerath, a theology major from Alexandria, Haley Ehleringer, a communications major from Randolph, and Alison Dudek, a nursing major from Omaha, Neb., hold up a sign while being photographed as part of the graduating class of 2016 of the College of St. Benedict before attending the commencement ceremony on May 7.
