MMC Athletics

On behalf of the Mount Marty College Alumni Association I would like to thank everyone who attended this year's Alumni Reunion. Although the weather conditions were not always the best, I believe everyone had a great time at the festivities with classmates and friends. Next year's All Schools Alumni Reunion is June 26th through June 28th. If you have any suggestions or ideas for next year, feel free to contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 605.668.1542.

Please take a few minutes to watch the video with highlights from the alumni reunion. As always, you can contact me anytime.

David Dickes, C'76

Director of Alumni Relations

Roncalli Center - #106

Office: 605.668.4020|Cell: 605.366.2232
david.dickes@mtmc.edu

www.mtmc.edu

Sr. Penny Bingham OSB, Brock Sundall, and Jill Orton

  

MMC Honors Distinguished Alumni

The Mount Marty College Alumni Association announced the recipients of the 2014 Alumni Awards on the final day of the reunion, June 29th. Each year awards are presented to deserving alums from MMC and this year's awards were for Distinguished Service to Mount Marty College, Distinguished Professional Achievement, and Distinguished Service to Church and Community. The award recipients for 2014 are:

• Service to Mount Marty College: Sr. Penny Bingham OSB - MMC, C'73, Yankton, SD
• Professional Achievement: Brock Sundall - MMC, C'98, Chamberlain, SD 
• Service to Church and Community: Jill Orton - MMC, C'92, Blair, NE

To read more about these outstanding alums, click here.

Alumni News
 
Nathan Roche, C'12
Nathan Roche gets to do two of his favorite things in his new role as the youth minister at Risen Savior Catholic Church in Brandon, SD: work with youth and share his faith. He joined the Risen Savior staff in early June and it has been a whirlwind ever since. In his first week on the job, he left on a service trip to Milwaukee, WI to lead a group of 25 local teens to help senior citizens clean up their property. And though their muscles were put to work during their service trip, the 24-year-old Norfolk, NE native said there's more to the kind of deed than just cleaning up landscapes. "Really, it's all about the youth and building their faith," he said. And that's largely Roche's role at Risen Savior.

(Read more about Nathan in the BrandonInfo article.)  

Letter of Thanks to Alumni
 
Dear Alums,

Thank you all so much for your many cards and personal greetings that made our summer celebrations of birthdays and profession anniversaries such happy occasions. It was not only delightful to reminisce about our past associations with you while we were reading your loving words but also to be grateful once again that God in his loving care saw fit to have our lives touch yours. We wish all of you could have been here for the delightful reception sponsored by the Alumni Association on the Saturday of alumni weekend, and we are especially grateful for those of you who were able to be there.  May God's peace, joy and love bless you always.

Sister Marie Helene and Sister Evangeline

Alum Spotlight

During Matt's four years at MMC, he had the opportunity to be elected to various leadership positions, and little did he realize at the time that these would form a strong foundation of skills that he would use today in numerous committees that Matt has been asked to serve on. He was elected by fellow classmates to be Dorm President and was also the Vice President of the MMC Faith Advisory Council. As Matt states, "To those who say you need to be Catholic to go to MMC, I would say you are sincerely mistaken, as there are a large number of students from all types of religions." Not being Catholic, Matt was so moved by Sr. Marielle Frigge's passion for teaching about God, he took multiple religious study courses even though he was a Biology and Chemistry  major. He's indebted to Sr. Marielle, who not only helped him edit his papers in her religious classes, but also helped Matt edit numerous papers for some of his science classes, as well as going above and beyond helping him prepare for his medical school applications. Matt adds, "We became good friends during my four years at MMC, and it was an honor to have her as my prayer partner." And of course, Professor James Bowers: he challenged Matt to achieve more than he ever thought was possible. As Matt tells the story, "Just the other day, I was talking to a colleague who said I didn't know you went to MMC." His very next statement was, "Did you have Professor Bowers as a teacher?"  I said, "I didn't think it was possible to graduate from MMC without having Professor Bowers as a teacher. I was honored to be asked to be an Anatomy and Physiology Lab Assistant for Professor Bowers. Professor Bowers' course in Anatomy and Physiology was as challenging as any class I took in medical school!" 

(to read more about Matt Hayes, click here)

July/August Alumni Events

Ten volunteers from Mount Marty College came to the aid of Laurel, NE, a town of 1,000 people located about an hour south of Yankton, after a tornado ravaged their community June 17. The group spent the day cleaning up the destruction on two farms by picking up the pieces of buildings, cleaning debris out of their shelter belts and picking up garbage from other people's farms that had blown over. It was the first time for most in this group experiencing the aftermath of a tornado and all its power and destruction.

Greg Heine, chief operations officer at Mount Marty, said the cleanup effort goes along with Mount Marty's core values of community and hospitality. "At the college, we teach, so our students can earn degrees, but we also try and encourage giving back," he said. "We encourage both our students and faculty to serve our community and help others. My heart pours out to these people. It left me feeling very grateful for what we have."

(yankton.net)

Alumni Office Request

The MMC Alumni Office is asking of its All School Alums for any photos, articles, or etc., relating to SHSA (Academy), SHSA (Nursing), MMHS (High School) or MMC (College).  Identifying information such as names, dates, etc. is certainly very helpful and appreciated. Please share them with us as they will assist us in telling the story of our 77 years as a Benedictine institution.