The University of Minnesota achieved its highest rankings for sustainability to date at the end of June, ultimately landing as the fifth-best in the nation, according to the 2025 Times Higher Ed Sustainability Impact Rankings.

University research, planning and community outreach helped boost their rankings, and work relating to clean water, food security and health initiatives helped the University stand out from its American peers. 

The rankings, which evaluated over 2,000 universities from 130 countries and regions this year, placed the University in the top 10% of higher education institutions worldwide, according to the Office for Sustainability.

The sustainability ranking assessed universities’ progress towards achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs. For these goals, the University ranked among the top five in three additional SDGs, securing top positions in climate action, zero hunger and partnerships for goals. 

In 2020, the University listed advancing the SDGs as a part of MPact 2025, its systemwide strategic plan. 

The rankings, first created in 2019, remain the only global performance metric to assess universities’ progress towards achieving the United Nations’ SDGs. 

The same year, the University established the UMN Sustainable Development Goals Initiative, which supports ongoing research and academics surrounding the meeting of sustainable development goals. 

The University submitted multiple campuses for review this year, one of the few institutions to do so worldwide, according to a press release by the Sustainable Development Goals Initiative. The final submission included data from each University campus, as well as a variety of statewide research and outreach initiatives. 

“As one of the nation’s premier research universities, the University of Minnesota is leading the way to building a sustainable future — for Minnesota, our nation and the world,” President Rebecca Cunningham said in a press release announcing the rankings. 

Cunningham added that the climate action and clean water rankings reaffirm the University’s values and dedication to critical sustainability work. 

This is the fourth year in a row the University has participated in the sustainability impact ranking, according to Shane Stennes, the systemwide chief sustainability officer for the University. 

Since first participating, the University has ranked in the top ten in the U.S. for each of the four goals it has submitted data for, even as the number of institutions ranked globally has grown, according to past years’ rankings. 

Stennes said the improvement in ranking over the years and the recent high rankings in clean water and health are a reflection of the University’s continued efforts to improve sustainability across research, curriculum, campus operations and communities. 

“It showcases that there has been a long consistent effort across the institution to really drive forward work in a number of categories,” Stennes said. “These two just happen to be ones where we are starting to see that materialize.” 

Stennes said the University’s strong water research and programming, supported by its Water Council alongside the Water Resource Center, helped to begin addressing clean water concerns. 

Stennes added the University’s mental health support services for employees and collaboration with healthcare providers across Minnesota were included in the ranking submission. The recent establishment of CentraCare Regional Campus in Saint Cloud, set to begin instruction this coming fall, was also highlighted. 

Stennes said the commitments outlined in the strategic plan have been used to measure sustainability progress broadly and have positively contributed to the University’s higher rankings in recent years. 

“There is a nice intersection between the sustainable development goals, which are outcomes that I think all of us kind of resonate with,” Stennes said. “We want to be working to prevent hunger, we want to be working to prevent poverty, we want to be working to address climate change and its impacts.”

The University of Minnesota held a service Wednesday afternoon to honor alumni Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, who were killed Saturday in what officials are calling a targeted act of political violence. 

Leaders, administrators and members of the campus community gathered in Northrop Auditorium and reflected on Melissa and Mark Hortman’s contributions to public service. Speakers also recognized Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, who were critically wounded and survived an attack by the same shooter. 

President Rebecca Cunningham spoke at the service, remarking on the achievements and contributions of the Hortmans, as well as the University’s commitment to continuing the Hortmans’ legacy and honoring their memory. 

Cunningham said the tragedy of the violence was contradictory to the Hortmans’ values and actions, each having dedicated their lives to public service and defending democracy.

“The killing, the violence and the terror that took place last weekend were the other antithesis of what Melissa and Mark lived for,” Cunningham said. “Those events are also the antithesis of who we are as a university.”

Cunningham said that as an intentional community, members of the University must come together and continue to push each other towards greater excellence. 

“We join this community because we believe in the power of our collective thought and action,” Cunningham said. “We know that, however different, even opposed our individual perspectives and ideas are, we are never alone as we face our challenges.”

William McGeveran, dean of the University Law School, shared reflections of Rep. Hortman by former colleagues and noted her impact as both a public servant and an alumnus of the school. 

McGeveran said Myron Orfield, University professor of civil rights law and former legislator who had known Hortman for over 30 years, said she lived a meaningful life and would want others to find resolve, not despair, in her passing.

Nisha Botchwey, Dean of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, commented on the importance of public service in shaping community and the need for more courageous leaders like Hortman. 

“Let this moment not just move us emotionally, let it move us civically,” Botchwey said. 

The service concluded with a moment of community healing led by Mary Jo Kreitzer, director of the Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing. 

A vigil for the Hortmans’ was held outside the state capitol building Wednesday evening, which saw more than 1,000 individuals in attendance, including state Gov. Tim Walz, according to the Star Tribune. 

“As a country we cannot become numb to this violence,” Walz said in a press release following the apprehension of shooter Vance Boelter. “The way we move forward and solve the problems facing our nation is not through hate. It is not through violence. It is through humility, and grace, and civility.” Boelter, 57, was arrested Sunday after the largest manhunt in the state’s history, according to law enforcement officials. Boelter is facing federal and state charges, including two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, according to the Department of Justice.

As the academic year wraps up and summer approaches, the University of Minnesota’s newest clubs are already setting their sights on the upcoming semester.

With dozens of additions to the University’s network of more than 1,000 student organizations, new and emerging clubs are eagerly planning to raise awareness and strengthen their presence on campus come fall.

Minorities in STEM

Omar Elkhateeb, a first-year student majoring in electrical engineering and president of Minorities in STEM, a club that officially started at the beginning of April, said outreach has been the primary focus in the few weeks the club has been active this semester.

“We are just working on getting our name out there and letting people know about it,” Elkhateeb said. “We have made social media posts, recruited some people and now we’ve just been doing board applications.”

The club aims to provide a supportive environment for minority students pursuing careers in STEM. Elkhateeb said he hopes the club will help students engage with others who share similar backgrounds and interests in the industry and be a source of motivation through hosting professional development events.

Future plans for the fall include hosting networking dinners, LinkedIn optimization and resume workshops. Elkhateeb said the club hopes to meet each week and provide educational resources for students in STEM that combat stereotypes and ultimately support diversity on campus.

“I want to get rid of what people may think are external factors, and I want to bring the help to them,” Elkhateeb said. “It took so much time and research and networking and talking to people to find a lot of the resources that I found, and now I want to make them easier for others to find so that we can all succeed.”

Go Skate Club

Revson Hill, a third-year transfer student to the University, started the Go Skate Club in January after finding out that a skateboarding group did not already exist. With a community of people passionate about skating on campus, Hill said the club has experienced positive growth since its first meeting.

Go Skate now has over 50 members and meets every two weeks, offering activities for beginner and experienced skateboarders.

“We want to make it inclusive to everybody,” Hill said. “Not just people who skateboard, but also people who want to learn, people who want to film, people who are photographers.”

Beyond just skating, Hill said he and the club’s board aim to make the club a social opportunity for people to connect and make new friends. Outside of organized activities, informal meet-ups are organized through social media and the club hopes to organize more community events in the coming year.

Hill said he is excited to see the club continue to collaborate, potentially partner with local skate shops in the future and market more to increase visibility on campus.

Collective Against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

Staël Kpetsu, a first-year student and president of the Collective Against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, founded in March, said that as a student group focused on sexual and domestic violence education, the group hopes to provide an informal way for students to learn more about these issues.

“Outside of the Aurora Center, we don’t really have something for students run by students,” Kpetsu said. “I feel like it’s a great way to connect students with the center and also to help them learn more in a casual way.”

With the help of an Undergraduate Student Government event grant, the Collective held its first event at the end of April, which involved writing letters to survivors of sexual and domestic violence at the Women’s Advocates shelter in St. Paul.

The Collective hopes to collaborate with the Aurora Center in the fall, as well as high schools and middle schools in the area, to help educate students about consent and resources.

Science of Cannabis Club

Anders Peterson, a senior and president of the newly formed Science of Cannabis club, said both he and Jolie Vu, a senior and club vice-president, saw an opportunity to establish a cannabis-related club given cannabis legalization strides.

Peterson said with the help of faculty, alongside other club leadership, the club has been able to grow successfully. Science of Cannabis ultimately aims to expand on the educational and networking opportunities within the cannabis industry on campus, Peterson added.

“We want to get more people from different majors involved, so that we can really make it a more holistic experience for people who are interested in cannabis,” Peterson said.

This semester, the club held several meetings on specific topics in cannabis research, mainly exploring the science of the plant. In the coming year, the club hopes to provide its members with more opportunities to connect with industry professionals.

Vu said the ultimate goal for the club is to educate on the benefits and safety of cannabis while providing a safe space for learning about cannabis without the stigma often associated with it.

“We are focusing on the plant production side of cannabis,” Vu said. “It’s more of a horticultural club right now, but we definitely do want to talk about culturally, socially and legally, what the future of the cannabis industry looks like.”

Students and faculty will debut innovative projects in the annual Founders Day showcase of University-wide entrepreneurship on May 14.

Featuring newly developed products, business concepts and startup ideas, the event in Walter Library in the Toaster Innovation Hub is open to the public. Founders Day will run from 4:30-7 p.m.

The event, co-hosted by the University Libraries and the Gary S. Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship, will feature 25 projects from classes and labs at the University as a part of its Minimum Viable Product challenge, a program that helps fund select teams’ prototype development.

Each year, the challenge awards up to 25 grants ranging from $100 to $3,000 across digital, physical and social project divisions.

Recent technology startups from the University will also be highlighted, and awards in entrepreneurship will be given out to students and faculty, according to the event press release.

Allison McDonald, the marketing and events manager for the Holmes Center, said the event fosters collaboration between the STEM-focused innovators at the University and the greater business community.

“We recognize that sometimes our business community can feel really detached from our innovation and more STEM-focused scientific community,” McDonald said. “It’s kind of a way to bridge the gap between that of saying, how do we support them on this journey and make sure that they’re able to actually bring this to market?”

McDonald said over 300 people have registered to attend this year’s event. Nearly 40 total participants will make up 23 teams of one to five challenge participants and 14 individuals giving presentations from different University experiential learning courses.

Attendees will also have the opportunity throughout the event to vote for projects, selecting a crowd favorite and a project that is most impactful, while a panel of five judges will choose the best overall project, McDonald said.

Founders Day and the Minimum Viable Product challenge are open to students and faculty innovators system-wide, also featuring teams from the University’s Duluth campus this year.

Deb Miedema, outreach and development specialist with the University’s technology innovation hub MIN-Corps in the Holmes Center, said preparation for the challenge is extensive and starts as early as June.

“We take about a week after Founders Day to sort of catch our breath, and then we already start thinking about MVP for the fall, because applications open in October,” Miedema said.

Teams selected to participate attend workshops up until the event. This year, six workshops were held in the Toaster covering topics like intellectual property, human-centered design and customer discovery, according to Miedema.

As a challenge coach, Miedema said there is benefit to the public forum of the event and challenge, which allows teams and individuals the opportunity to pitch their ideas or prototypes while networking with founders and other entrepreneurs.

“We want to build an innovation ecosystem here in the Twin Cities,” Miedema said. ”The best place to do that is here at the University, where we’re doing really cool research and our students are supported.”

Morgan Kerfeld, an associate director at the Holmes Center and a challenge coach, said participating while finishing her MBA at the University was a game-changing experience.

Kerfeld, who co-founded Telo, a company developing assistive walking devices, said the challenge provided funding to develop their first functional prototype as well as mentorship at a critical time.

“What MVP allowed us to do was get to that stage of having a really durable and safe prototype that we could get testing from actual users of mobility devices,” Kerfeld said. “That feedback was incredibly valuable.”

Kerfeld said the most valuable part of the event and participating in the challenge is the feedback and support from coaches and other administrators involved. As a coach to MVP teams this year, Kerfeld said it has been rewarding to give back to a diverse group of students who are passionate about making change in specific areas.

“I think when you’re at an early stage in a business idea, the best possible thing that you can get is feedback,” Kerfeld said. “What the MVP challenge allows you to do is really take that first step with resources and support around you, so that it’s not as scary.”

Fabrication labs in the University of Minnesota’s College of Design provide a dedicated space for students to explore and be creative. 

Any student enrolled in design courses can utilize the labs, which are equipped with a wood and metal shop, digital fabrication tools and a material store to work on projects and learn how to use equipment with the help of onsite staff. 

The lab is open on weekdays and for limited hours on weekends with facilities on both the University’s Minneapolis and St. Paul campuses. It welcomes students with all levels of shop experience.

Anne Henly, a fabrication technician with the labs for eight years, said they are designed to be inclusive and encourage students of different disciplines to take advantage of the tools and staff expertise the lab provides. 

“The Fab Lab offers great resources to people where they can make their ideas a reality,” Henly said. “They start to work with materials and see how things like wood, metal, plastic or fabric, all those things, how you can then fasten them together. You can do all sorts of things.” 

Henly said the lab is as practically beneficial for students as it is academically, allowing them to experience the design process firsthand while gaining important hands-on skills. 

“It’s good to know how to use a drill. It’s good to know how to hand-sew something, and I like helping people learn,” Henly said. “To get people out of the online world and into reality is fun, and people get really excited. They get excited about learning new things.” 

In addition to helping students in the open labs, Henly runs the labs’ mending hour, a weekly workshop that provides anyone a chance to learn and practice fabric mending techniques through repairing fabric items. 

Henly said learning how to stitch is a useful skill, and the mending hour provides a way for people to learn while extending the life of fabric items. 

“I have heard from people that after they’ve mended something or altered it, they like it better.  You appreciate that clothing more and appreciate the little mend you did on it,” Henly said. “It’s a both economical but also sustainable way to create less waste in clothing and have to buy less.” 

The labs are staffed by five professionals, including the fabrication director and a digital fabrication specialist. Fifteen to 20 student workers also help. 

Nat Kim, a fabrication technician, said the labs ultimately help reduce barriers to learning shop skills by providing access to quality shop tools. 

“We’re really unique for the amount of hours that we’re open and the level of staffing that we have,” Kim said. “We’re open 68 hours a week and try to provide as much scrap material for students to get started.” 

Kim said staff in the metal, wood and laser shops try their best to educate people on how to salvage material. The labs make an effort to retain as much usable material at the end of each year, she added. 

In addition to prioritizing sustainability, the labs also work to be a creative space for people of all backgrounds and create a culture of inclusivity, Kim said. 

“I’m always excited to make the space inviting for folks like me who didn’t grow up with an extensive knowledge of tools,” Kim said. “I just find it really rewarding working with students who come in really nervous and they leave really confident.” 

Justin Kindelspire, the labs’ digital fabrication specialist, said he enjoys helping students gain skills and confidence with 3D printing, laser cutting and computer numerical control machining. Kindelspire wants to partner more with other makerspaces on campus to expand the labs’ current resources. 

“It’s a lot of fun when students come in with the thing that they want to make, but they don’t know how to get there, or they’re totally stumped,” Kindelspire said. “Helping them work through how to get to the goal that they want and solving problems is great.” 

Michelle Nunez, a student worker and fourth-year majoring in product design, said helping full-time staff as a student worker is rewarding and has helped her develop important problem-solving skills. 

“This is a great space,” Nunez said. “It’s an insanely important resource, not only between the bonds and connections that you can make with each other, but also all the skills that you can learn that translate outside of the shop.”

Correction: A previous version of this article stated the labs were open six to eight hours a week. They are actually open 68 hours a week.

University of Minnesota student organizations hosted their fourth annual Asian Night Market this past Saturday. 

The market featured tabling by 15 student organizations, singing and dance performances and market-style Asian food and drinks from local Minneapolis businesses. 

The Hong Kong Student Association, the Tibetan American Student Association and the Taiwanese Student Society collaborate each year to host the event, which was attended by nearly 500 people this year. The event ran from 5-9 p.m. on Saturday. 

The market aims to raise cultural awareness by bringing together lesser-known Asian cultures at the University and support smaller student organizations by providing them a platform to gain visibility on campus. 

Jason Chang, a fourth-year student and acting TSS president, said elevating student organizations is the driving motivation behind hosting the event because there is a need for growth and exposure for smaller cultural organizations on campus. 

“We have been fortunate enough that we have been able to pick up a significant following and start to grow, and we want to help others who are on the same journey,” Chang said. “We can help use our platform and grow other organizations and other communities.” 

HKSA, TASA and TSS originally hosted the market outside Northrop in its first couple years. The groups transitioned the event to Coffman Union’s Great Hall to better meet capacity and performance space needs as the event has expanded, Chang added. 

“Night markets are important cultural elements in a lot of Asia, and it’s just a community gathering place,” Chang said. 

The market this year featured performances by 75 students, including five student groups and individual student performances. Nearly 50 students made up the event board and 25 students participated in the tabling portion of the event.

Isabelle Janey, TSS treasurer, said to make the event more cohesive, the board introduced a new ticketing system this year to encourage interaction and better facilitate a night market environment. Attendees were given two tickets at the start of the event and received additional tickets they could exchange for food items by interacting with tabling organizations. 

Janey said supporting small businesses through the food they offer is another important part of creating a more immersive and inclusive market experience. The market featured appetizers, entrees, desserts and beverages from 15 different businesses. 

“We tried to highlight just Asian food from small businesses in the Twin Cities and popular Asian drinks,” Janey said. “We are trying to highlight East Asian food but also South Asian food as well.”

Tenzin Yangchen, president of TASA, said the food is integral to hosting the event, as it is another way for attendees to connect with Asian culture. 

“The vision is just sharing the culture through the food and what each of our organizations represents,” Yangchen said. 

HKSA, TASA and TSS started preparing for the market back in October. The groups were divided into four subcommittee groups that helped organize finances, performance, tech and marketing, according to Chang. 

Student service fees and occasional fundraising to cover unexpected expenses are what support the night market event each year, Janey said. 

Emma Lai, president of HKSA, said the subcommittee focused its outreach through Instagram and TikTok for its marketing this year, posting consistent video content to appeal to students and a broader community audience. 

“I think we did a really good job,” Lai said. “All of our organizations outside of the committees were making videos, so hopefully this year more people are seeing this and are like, ‘Oh, this looks like a lot of fun, I should come to this event.’” 

In addition to promoting more online content on the event’s dedicated social media accounts, Lai said the group found alternative ways to promote the event through chalk art and handing out flyers on campus. 

Jessica Xiong, a first-year student and a chair in an Asian-interest collegiate sorority Delta Phi Lambda, said the ability to table at the market is a valuable way to gain exposure and share what they do as a sorority of multicultural women. 

Eve Khang, a second-year student and chair in Delta Phi Lambda, said the tabling event is also a platform where they can combat stereotypes that exist regarding sororities on campus. 

“We want to educate the people who come by that we are passionate about our philanthropies,” Khang said. “We are a sorority with women who are passionate about spreading awareness about topics that are not talked about enough and educating the community as well.” 

Saemee Oh, a fourth-year student and president of The Music and Healthcare Association, said the interactive part of the market has been a valuable opportunity to connect with people who are passionate about music. The club plans to table at the market again next year. 

“Even though they are trying to get a ticket, it’s still a great conversation,” Oh said. “A lot of people have been asking for our Instagram wanting to get involved, so it’s a really great way to just spread the word.” 

Khanhlinh Lambuu, a senior and member of the student group K-Move, a K-Pop cover dance group that performed at the market, said the highlight of performing was getting to share their hard work and passion for Korean music with the community. 

“K-Pop is something we all listen to either casually or are die-hard fans of, so being able to do dances like this, kind of shows our appreciation and passion for the culture,” Lambuu said. 

Sasha Gor, a first-year student in K-Move, said performing at the market was an exciting and collaborative experience. 

“I feel like those moments before and after performing are great bonding moments, you’re both panicking together and having fun together, and it’s just over a great experience,” Gor said.

Students presented individual and group research all-day Tuesday as a part of the annual spring Undergraduate Research Symposium hosted by the University of Minnesota. 

With over 200 participants from different University campuses system-wide, the symposium took place in the Great Hall at Coffman Union across four sessions open to the public. 

Students at all different stages in their undergraduate degree showcased their projects through poster presentations, featuring a range of personal and directed academic research. 

The symposium and its virtual fall counterpart was hosted by the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR). Students can register and participate for free, with some additional expenses covered by the Office.

Bridget Bergin, an OUR coordinator, said the symposium allows anyone to present their research and encourages students passionate about any research topic to participate. 

“It’s fun because it’s not organized by any particular research topic or even any program. Anyone who is doing research and also creative projects are welcome,” Bergin said. “The idea is for it to be a welcoming and encouraging environment, and it’s also just good practice.” 

Bergin said the in-person symposium provides students with an opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned but also provides them a space to network with peers and faculty. 

“I have talked to a lot of students who get involved with research because they want to pursue graduate school in a field, and they’re like, ‘I just want to learn as much as I can about this thing before applying to graduate school,’” Bergin said. “I think that the symposium gives people an opportunity to practice the skills of growing in confidence in their own abilities to do research.” 

Bergin said the symposium is designed to allow students to showcase their research in a professional but informal format. 

OUR tries to organize each session spatially in terms of topic for there to be similarity amongst presentations, Bergin said. 

Reed Miller, a fourth-year student studying linguistics, presented his academic capstone project on the differences in pronunciation between rap and sung music. 

Miller said he is glad he got to share his work, even though he did not initially plan to present. 

“I am kind of shy when it comes to talking about the things that I research, but getting to see other people presenting their research and the passion that they have makes me want to keep presenting,” Miller said. “I’m happier that I did this today than I was a week ago.” 

Miller said the highlight of the research process for him was listening to music and getting to explore the overlap between dialectal features in rap music and sung music. 

“What I found was oftentimes, for sung music, it’s a lot more simple with how they use the rhymes,” Miller said. “At the beginning of my research, I had a very strong belief that the most essential part of a rhyme was the vowel, and I was surprised to find that people change how vowels sound when they sing music too.” 

Completing his research and presenting was rewarding, and Miller now looks forward to continuing to explore linguistics professionally.

Krys Mustwillo, a fourth-year psychology major with a minor in family and social sciences, shared her senior thesis, which focused on attitudes towards weight bias, particularly in fitness settings. 

Mustwillo worked alongside Dr. Traci Mann, a psychologist and professor in the Health and Eating Laboratory at the University, and said working with a study from start to finish has been her favorite part of the research process. She added she is grateful to have the opportunity to present their findings. 

“I have been working in this lab since freshman year, and it means a lot to be able to bring my college career’s work onto the floor and show it to people,” Mustwillo said. “I hope this inspires more research on the topic.” 

Mustwillo said collaborating with Mann on her research and working in a lab focused on combating weight stigma has been a valuable part of her academic journey. As someone who works in fitness and is planning on going into healthcare, Mustwillo said it was valuable to study the impacts of weight bias firsthand.

“We were thinking that if we were to study this in the settings where it’s the most common there is a chance we could find ways to help those communities and help find ways to minimize the expression of bias,” Mustwillo said. “Our study was built on the basis that we can’t change how people feel about people with larger bodies, let’s see if we can change how they express it.”

Vicky Munro, associate director of OUR, said the concept for the research symposiums originally started in the College of Biological Sciences. OUR later inherited the program to make it more accessible University-wide. 

Munro said the program has been run by their office since 2010 and continued in-person up until COVID-19. 

“We missed maybe two years in person during COVID, but we kept the whole thing going, and at that point, we added the fall symposium,” Munro said. 

The Fall Undergraduate Research Symposium was conducted virtually and continues to be offered each year to undergraduate students. 

Munro said despite it being held remotely, it is run similarly to the in-person event. The main difference between the two is that students must submit a video presentation alongside their research abstracts. 

The research symposiums provide students funded by OUR programs with the opportunity to complete their program requirements, one of which Munro said is presenting their research in a public way. 

“It does nobody any good if you do great research and never share it,” Munro said. 

While presentations can take various forms, like being published or uploading work to the University Digital Conservancy, Munro said the in-person and virtual events offer valuable experience, particularly for students considering graduate school. 

“It helps push research, and it makes students have to answer questions about their research, but it’s good practice to talk about what you’re interested in and keep it short enough where people understand,” Munro said. 

Sara Mohamed, a first-year student majoring in biochemistry who presented her research on finding detection biomarkers for ovarian cancer, said the symposium was an exciting experience that helped her grow as a researcher. 

“It’s helped me make connections and get better at explaining my work and answering questions,” Mohamed said. “I like the environment and how you can walk around and see other people’s work as well.”

Zach Schmitz, a fourth-year student majoring in microbiology and researching climate change and local adaptation in invasive species throughout Minnesota, said the opportunity to interpret results, be curious and present his work to others are significant drivers for him. 

“You don’t get many opportunities to present in this kind of format,” Schmitz said. “I’m from Minnesota, I am proud to be Minnesotan, so it’s also neat to present research that’s focused on ecologically impactful things with Minnesota.” 

Swim clinics at the University of Minnesota’s Recreation and Wellness Center provide individuals with a resource for improving their swimming skills.  

The Gopher Swim School offers swimmers instruction opportunities several times a week throughout the academic year, teaching and providing feedback on technical skills that aim to improve confidence in the pool. Available to students, faculty and the public, Gopher Swim hosts adult swim and triathlon clinics, providing free gear for participant use when needed. 

Adult clinics are 60 minutes long and run once a month. Triathlon clinics are offered as a three-week course with sessions between 60 to 75 minutes in length. Each week focuses on improving a different swimming technique. 

Rachel Small, a student and advanced aquatics program assistant at the RecWell, said the swim clinics’ goal is to provide feedback and instruction outside of competition. 

“Once you’re an adequate or decent swimmer, if you don’t want to practice three times a week or race twice a month, there’s sort of nowhere for you to go,” Small said. “We wanted to make a space for people to find swim instruction without having to dedicate their whole lives and all of their free time to swimming.” 

Small said the clinic aims to accommodate a diverse range of participants and clinic participation varies. 

“We have people who are trying to be pretty competitive in their triathlons and then people who have graduated swim lessons and still want to get coaching once a week so that they can swim on their own and feel confident,” Small said. 

Small said the clinic’s typical demographic ranges from undergraduates and graduate students to retirees. Although clinics are fairly small, she said it is intentional to ensure every participant can receive specialized feedback from the coaching staff. 

Three other coaches assist with running the clinics, with participants working with one or two instructors, Small said. Each coach is trained to teach the same set of clinics and collaborate frequently to best support their swimmers. 

“Everyone gets on the same page at the start of the semester, anyone who has any feedback about the programming puts it out there, then we’ll adjust it if we see fit,” Small said

While the triathlon clinics follow a set routine, Small said with each week building on specific positioning, recovery and breathing techniques, coaches make time to work individually with participants on specific skills they are looking to improve. 

Small was hired by Gopher Swim to help coach the clinics in 2023 and helped develop the triathlon and adult swim clinics into individual comprehensive teaching programs. The clinics started in 2022, with the triathlon clinic functioning as a flexible time for swimmers to meet with coaches and work on drills based on their needs. 

Bethany Hirschi, an aquatics program coordinator at the RecWell, said the idea for the triathlon clinics was raised by Linda McKee, the associate department director and director of aquatics, who participated in triathlons. 

“She was like, ‘Hey, there’s this huge group of people that do triathlons, but no space and no resources out there to get the specific training for just swimming for triathlons,’” Hirschi said. “Thanks to Rachel, she created this incredible idea to make it a set program.” 

Cost and registration for the clinics vary depending on the clinic type and attendance. Each adult swim clinic costs $30 to register, whereas participants can attend the triathlon clinics individually for $40 or purchase a clinic package for all three clinics for $100.

Free clinics are offered at the start and end of each semester and all four coaches assist with these clinics to help with high turnout, Small said. 

Hirschi said the program fees help support the programs and ultimately aid in program development. 

Gopher Swim will host a Water Safety Festival on April 27, which includes free programming for interested swimmers. 

Taylor Hamilton, a third-year student and advanced aquatics coach, said she enjoys instructing the clinics because it is an opportunity to teach new skills to adult swimmers. 

“I like seeing when they do something that we’re teaching, and they’re like, ‘Wow, that really makes my stroke feel more complete and feel better for me,’” Hamilton said. “We are pretty receptive to all levels of swimmers, and we just want everyone to succeed and do their best.” 

Olivia Hutzler, a second-year student and advanced aquatics coach, said that as a tight-knit coaching group, she finds instructing the clinics rewarding and fun. 

“We want what’s best for everyone in advanced aquatics,” Hutzler said. “The adults are receptive and understanding, and they’re like, ‘Oh, so I am doing this wrong. How can I fix that?’ They want to learn and I really like that.”

Students in the University of Minnesota’s Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program showcased their work this week on campus, spotlighting their research and creative exploration.

Featuring work by first- and second-year candidates in the three-year interdisciplinary program, this year’s “thresholds” exhibition displays pieces that highlight each artist’s work across a variety of different mediums. The exhibition has been on view in the Regis Center for Art Quarter Gallery since April 1 and will run until April 19.

The 2,000-square-foot gallery was transformed by the artists themselves, who each curated and installed artwork for the exhibition. The show structure allows the 10 participating artists an opportunity for experimentation and pushing boundaries when it comes to their individual work, according to the exhibition statement.

Maeve Jackson, a first-year MFA student and part of the exhibition, said this is an important time to have their work exist in the same space together because it can lead to conversation or even collaboration in the future.

“It’s beautiful,” Jackson said. “There are 10 of us. How did 10 different, very different artists fit together like a puzzle in a gallery and I think we’ve been able to master that in this show.” 

Jackson said she enjoys working with sculpture, photography and video as mediums because of how they take up space and intersect to tell a story.

Swimming and grief are themes Jackson said she returns to often in her work because of how they are interconnected for her personally.

“Pools are a place that a lot of people do spend their time grieving from a loss or from something in life,” Jackson said. “I keep coming back to the pool in these moments of grief and I’m seeing that come through in the softness and the tenderness of my work.”

In the exhibition, Jackson’s piece “Take your marks” is a competitive swimming block, made out of a tiled wooden podium with a drawn depiction of swimming lanes featured behind it.

Jackson, who is originally from Wisconsin, said when she was 18, she knew she wanted to pursue art in higher education over swimming, which she had done competitively through high school. The University appealed to her the most because of the art facilities but also because of the swimming community on campus.

“That parallel was really prominent in my decision to come here,” Jackson said. “I knew that there is a swimming world, there is a really great art community here, and I thought that I could excel in that.”

Jackson said she hopes that her piece in the exhibition will visually surprise her audience but also spark reflection about the pool as a space of meditation.

“I hope it causes my audience to really think about the last time they were in a pool, or the last time that they were swimming, and what that experience was like,” Jackson said. “Maybe it lures someone to a memory or to an actual pool.”

Maria Oostra, another first-year MFA student in the exhibition, said running and philosophy heavily influence her artistic practice.

“It allows me to engage with different parts of my process, including now ultra running and the body-mind dialog between the two,” Oostra said. “I am trying to figure out where I am in that research process, within an artistic program, I’m able to do that my own way.”

Oostra said she primarily works with painting but aims to challenge two-dimensional painting in her work. Her exhibition piece is a mixed media painting incorporating spray paint, wallpapers, fabric and paint scraps, among other found materials.

“My practice is slightly shifting towards a more embodied kind of practice within the objects that are part of my inherited past,” Oostra said. “Concepts that I am working with are what does this past mean to me, what does being Dutch mean to me.”

Following a long academic career in different parts of Europe, Oostra said she got her bachelor’s of philosophy and fine arts at the University and a concussion led her to explore new paths, including an MFA, where she could integrate her research with art.

“It was like one of multiples in my life, and I couldn’t really focus anymore, like what is required in Western philosophy,” Oostra said. “I started thinking, ‘Okay, what else?’ and that’s how I decided to do the MFA here.”

Oostra said she values the opportunity to show her work in the MFA program and appreciates the supportive and collaborative environment of her class cohort. To her, the program feels like a platform for continuous learning.

“I want to spark a continuous curiosity in ways of exploring,” Oostra said. “I want people to look at my work and say, hey, there’s a little glitter glue and every time that you look at it there’s constantly things that you can keep discovering.”

Oostra said the exhibition was an opportunity to challenge herself artistically and created a safe space to connect people with her own experiences.

The Department of Art and the Katherine E. Nash Gallery are located in the Regis Center for Art, which is made up of two buildings connected by a skyway on the West Bank of the University.

The center is 145,000 square feet and provides undergraduate and graduate students with the opportunity to experiment with sculpture, foundry, ceramics, printmaking, photography, drawing and painting through a variety of dedicated spaces.

The Katherine E. Nash Gallery houses a 5,000-square-foot research laboratory along with the Quarter Gallery which serves as additional exhibition space for showcases throughout the year.

Kayla Fryer, a second-year MFA student and part of the exhibition, said being from Maryland, she was at first hesitant to move to Minneapolis, but the program and facilities helped her decision.

“I am glad I made this choice because it definitely helped me a lot and produced some really great things out of me as an artist,” Fryer said.

Fryer worked as an arts administrator for seven years leading up to COVID-19, during which she completed her bachelor’s degree and was encouraged by professors to pursue an MFA. 

“I was preparing for my first solo show at the time,” Fryer said. “They saw a lot of my paintings and things I was working on, and they were like you would do great in a master’s program so I took the leap of faith and said, ‘Okay, I’ll try it.’”

Fryer said she went into the program as a painter but has shifted to working with fabric dyeing, installation and filmmaking. Her exhibition piece, “A struggle within—but I look to You,” is a short film that experiments using blue light. 

Fryer’s work has a focus in Christianity, telling personal and historical stories of faith. She hopes her work conveys vulnerability and hope when it comes to personal struggles. 

“I went through a very hard experience where all I could lean on was God and then art,” Fryer said. “When it came to coming to grad school, I was thinking, okay, if I’m making art, I’m going to make it about my faith.” 

Fryer, who helped organize the exhibition, said she is excited to finish her MFA program and begin preparing for her final exhibition.

“I think all the works are so strong, and I think a lot of them speak to one another, so I’m really excited to see how other people react and respond,” Fryer said. “It definitely gives me a sense of collaboration and camaraderie to be able to exhibit together in this way.” 

The exhibition is available to view through April 19. Third-year MFA students are concurrently showcasing their work in “see through love,” a thesis exhibition featuring artwork from seven students. 

As Minnesota begins to shift its stance on psychedelics, the Psychedelic Education Club at the University of Minnesota is optimistic about potential policy changes. 

Legislation introduced into the Minnesota House of Representatives last week seeks to decriminalize personal possession of psychedelic mushrooms and legalize them for therapeutic use. These bills follow the recent recommendations of the Psychedelic Medicine Task Force, created by the legislature in 2023 to advise on the potential legalization of psychedelic medicine. 

The club, which is centered around activism and the harm reduction movement concerning personal drug use, is hopeful to see the legislation pass. 

Miles Jungclaus, a recent University graduate and the club’s acting president, said the legislation is promising for the educational work the club does as a growing student organization and community on campus. 

“Our fingers are crossed,” Jungclaus said. “We are heading in a better direction at a community level and nationwide, which seems to be the general direction of the country right now.” 

Psilocybin, a compound found in “magic mushrooms,” is consumed for its hallucinogenic effects, according to the Alcohol and Drug Foundation. Psychedelic mushrooms are a controlled psychoactive substance that can cause changes in a person’s perception, mood and behavior.

Minnesota is now one of nearly 40 states to introduce psychedelic bills or measures since 2020, according to legalization tracking data. Oregon became the first state to legalize psilocybin-assisted therapy and decriminalize personal use in 2020, followed by Colorado, which legalized the drug for treatment centers in 2023. 

In recent years, studies have found that psilocybin has potential benefits for treatment-resistant depression, according to the American Psychological Association.  Evidence suggests it could be useful in treating substance-use disorders, racial trauma and OCD. 

Though federal approval of psychedelics is uncertain, some individuals are becoming more interested in exploring treatment options, according to the APA. However, providers said more education about the risks and benefits is needed. 

Jungclaus said the club’s goal is to create a safe space for discussion on campus and promote learning regarding the personal and therapeutic use of psychedelics. 

“Our main purpose is to establish a psychedelic community and network with the primary focus of providing education on harm reduction practices and being able to provide safe spaces for open discussion,” Jungclaus said.  

The club hosts a variety of workshops and informational sessions to learn about the effects of psychedelics in a safe and conversational environment, Jungclaus said. This year, a focus of club leadership has been to promote the club and bring more awareness to psychedelics, spirituality and research. 

“We have been helping individuals find other like-minded individuals since 2019,” Jungclaus said.

Jungclaus said COVID-19 ultimately brought on challenges for the club, with leadership graduating during lockdown and a significant decrease in engagement. The club has since had to rebuild and restructure. 

“Right now we’re trying to be as professional about it as possible, and trying to hit the ground running,” Jungclaus said.

The club held its most recent meetings at the end of March, which featured presentations about safety practices, the benefits of psychedelic therapy and research being done regarding the use of psychedelics in therapeutic spaces. 

Despite a dip in engagement with the club in the fall, recent club events have had strong turnout, Jungclaus said. A club discussion about set and setting on March 21 was very successful, he added.

Set and setting refer to a person’s physical environment and mental state. Understanding these factors is important for harm reduction because they strongly influence the outcome of a person’s experience of psychedelics, according to the National Institute of Health. 

Max Lauritzen, a third-year student at the University and a club officer, gave a presentation on being a good trip sitter, a sober individual who supervises a person’s psychedelic experience, at the club’s meeting on Friday.

Lauritzen said the club has provided him and other interested individuals with a community to challenge the stigma and misconceptions associated with psychedelic experiences. 

“We don’t promote use. People are going to do it regardless,” Lauritzen said. “If you do use psychedelics irresponsibly, there are risks, but it’s a psychedelic education club. We educate people how to do it a little more responsibly.” 

Lungclaus said the community aspect and connecting with others is foundational to the club and its overall mission. 

“You’re with a collective,” Lungclaus said. “It takes so much weight off your shoulders, and you are able to focus much more on being a community instead of just being a drone in the system.”

The club plans to host a variety of events through the first week of May, including a community bike ride, nature walk and end-of-semester barbeque. 

In recent years, the use of psychedelic mushrooms has outpaced other psychedelic drugs in the U.S., according to a report by RAND, a nonprofit research institute. An estimated eight million adults used psilocybin in 2023.

The Food & Drug Administration designated psilocybin as a breakthrough therapy in 2018 and 2019 for treatment-resistant depression and major depressive disorder, according to the National Institute of Health. 

Amidst legislative reforms taking place across the country, there has been a rise in scientific research, with more than 60% of registered voters supporting the creation of regulated therapeutic programs for psychedelic use, according to the National Institute of Health and the University of California-Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics.

Rep. Andy Smith, D-Minn., who represents District 25B, sponsored the most recent psychedelic legislation alongside a handful of co-sponsors.

Smith said, in light of research demonstrating the benefits of these substances, introducing these bills was about expanding access to a resource amidst an ongoing mental health crisis. 

“I think it’s a tool that we should have as a society to deal with a mental health crisis that we’ve seen play out over the last decade and even longer,” Smith said. 

Smith said the War on Drugs continues to negatively impact access to alternative resources and hinder helpful applications when it comes to treating mental health disorders. 

“That is why I passed the bill in 2023 to create the Psychedelic Medicine Task Force, so we could look at this responsibly and go over all of the possible ways we could make this legal, very safely,” Smith said. 

Smith, an appointed member of the task force, introduced legislation based on two of the three final recommendations made to the legislature by the task force in January. The task force recommended creating a state-regulated clinical program, decriminalizing personal use or possession and allocating more funding for research into the health benefits of MDMA, psilocybin and LSD. 

The majority of states are expected to legalize psychedelics by 2034 to 2037, according to research by the National Institutes of Health. 

Smith said he hopes to have committee hearings and work to pass the legislation in 2026 and expects the bills to pass with bipartisan support. 

“I’m optimistic, and I do think this will be if it passes a bipartisan bill,” Smith said. “Thankfully, this is one of the few areas where there has been some bipartisan support as we look at these policies around the country.”