From the Alumni Magazine: Bright Future for SUU
Posted: November 01, 2022 | Author: SUU Alumni Magazine | Read Time: 5 minutes
When Mindy Benson was selected to serve as interim president of Southern Utah University in the summer of 2021, it may have been a surprise to some alumni, but it was by no means a case of an unknown quantity, for not only was she well regarded and appreciated by her fellow graduates, she very well may have been the most broadly known among them.
She had served students and the greater SUU community for nearly four decades, and been a ubiquitous figure warmly welcoming one and all to a dizzying range of SUU events. Moreover, she seemed to know and enjoy a wide segment of the alumni and emeriti base, including many members of those groups who had trod the campus even before her lifetime.
Indeed, SUU alumni saw a true champion of their interests and the hopes of many as the institution began its sixth quarter-century.
And it became clear that alumni made up only a portion of those who noted her leadership and vision.
Upon the departure of President Scott L Wyatt that summer, Mindy took a few unsure steps in leadership, but built steadily to shine at the 2022 Utah State Legislature, when her abilities won for the institution its second highest financial appropriation ever, as well as its largest in ongoing funding. That, along with the emboldening approval of many thousands of current and former students as well as diverse stakeholders, led her to officially apply for the presidency.
A groundswell of support rose for her to have that job. Some 800 emails, letters and texts, and scores of phone calls and personal visits from supporters came into the Utah Board of Higher Education, in greater volume than previously seen by the leading body of state higher ed. And the selection committee heard from vast numbers of supporters. Something was afoot.
In the entire first 125 years of the institution only one president had ever ascended to the post from campus: George W. Decker in 1904. As with Mindy, a wave of support had swept him into the job, as every student on campus signed a petition urging his appointment.
And, while there had never before been a Cedar City native named to the top post, she joined one of her mentors, Jerry Sherratt, as the only alumnus to serve as president.
Mindy was among three finalists and, in SUU’s Steve Gilbert Great Hall on July 15, she was revealed as the 17th president of the institution, and a capacity crowd reacted with excitement and glee.
She had begun her campus association as the daughter of long-time and beloved Director of Student Activities Ken Benson (’57), as a 12-year member of the Utah Shakespeare Festival support staff from the age of 13, and had volunteered at the earliest Utah Summer Games. Her sister Shelly (’83) had been the institution’s first female student body president in 1982, and her mother Donna (’76) was a highly contributive student and supporter who later graduated at the top of her class and taught second grade in town for 23 years. Mindy’s SUU ties went back generations, to the founding of 1897.
She held a 1994 Bachelor of Science in Zoology from SUU, and a 2008 Master of Arts in Communication. As vice president for alumni and community relations, Benson had overseen more than a dozen crucial campus areas. She had been responsible for a variety of community outreach projects, alumni engagement, workforce development, economic growth, community leadership trainings and special events, and in years prior she had been responsible for student activities and leadership, the Sharwan Smith Student Center, and the Alumni Office.
Earlier, at the announcement of her interim appointment, chair of the Utah Board of Higher Education Harris H. Simmons said, “Benson's success and reliable institutional knowledge of Southern Utah University have prepared her to fill the role of interim president. (Her) strong leadership throughout her career has ensured successful execution of campus events and other student activities. With her exceptional relationships and connections across campus and in the community, the Board is sure that she will see Southern Utah University through a successful transition period.”
Those thoughts surely also encapsulated her suitability as president.
She says that she has priorities in mind but is “a let’s sit down together and come up with a shared vision that everybody can support,” kind of leader. She is committed to sustainable growth; sustainable for the campus, faculty, students and community. Important to her is making sure the student experience is the best it can be and that SUU is meeting the needs of students.
“Campus culture is a big priority for me as is making sure SUU is a healthy place and the best place for our faculty, staff and students to work,” she says.
Fundraising, too, is an essential need as is the task of raising the profile on a national basis, she says, and intends to do more listening, as she is “a big believer in the concept that people support what they help create…shared vision and shared governance.”
And, without question, she will work to empower alumni.
“Alumni will be a top priority for me,” she says. “Whether that be engaging them back on campus, engaging them in the communities, or working with them on a capital campaign. There are a number of ways and I’ve been overwhelmed and overjoyed by the number of alumni who reached out and supported or contacted me in the search. It has been humbling and gratifying and I want to return that, making them proud of their institution and turning that around and using in our next program the momentum of those alumni. Whether a campaign, a recruiting campaign, or spreading a national brand campaign about SUU, our alumni are ready and willing and standing by; they just need a vision that they can believe in. Together, we can design that vision and put it out there so it is something they are strongly a part of.”
This article was originally published in the Fall 2022 edition of the SUU Alumni Magazine.