The 2009 Minnesota Collegiate Choral Festival was held, and choirs were invited to submit blind CDs of their work. From the many entries, the following five choral groups were selected: Minnesota State University-Mankato, Northwestern College, St. John’s University, the University of Minnesota-Duluth and the Chamber Singers from the University of St. Thomas.

One Sunday, as my parents rummaged around the kitchen preparing dinner, I kept hearing, “Bailey, no! . . . Off the counter! . . . Bailey! That’s not for you; don’t eat that! . . . Down, Bailey!” Our one-year-old red lab puppy, Bailey, loves helping out in the kitchen. Sensing my parents’ irritation, I got up from my lazy nap and took the crazy pup outside for some exercise.

As a back-stage, behind-the-scenes, on-stage and fully engaged participant in the Opus Prize preparations and production, I say, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Such a grand event provided all who attended mountainous lessons and elephantine emotions. Here are a few of the reflections and comments both overheard and intentionally noted during and after last Wednesday evening’s event.

St. Thomas hosted the 6th annual awards ceremony to honor the work of three social entrepreneurs around the world – unsung heroes who are working to solve society’s most vexing and persistent problems. The winner, Aicha Ech Channa of Morocco, received $1 million and the other two, Sister Valeriana Garcia-Martin of Columbia and Father Hans Stapel of Brazil, each received $100,000.

The crowd at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis was large and enthusiastic; people got to their feet for a half-dozen standing ovations.

In short, she is an extremely remarkable woman, and I will be absolutely honored to see her again at the Opus Prize event on Wednesday evening. I also look forward to meeting the other two finalists for the $1 million Opus Prize: Aïcha Ech Channa of Casablanca, Morocco, and Father Hans Stapel of Guaratinguetá, Brazil.

The latest example came out of the blue last week from Jean Stack of St. Cloud, who, with her children, had a chance encounter on Oct. 17 with four St. Thomas students at the China Star Buffet in St. Cloud. She didn’t know who they were, but believed they had been at the St. Thomas-St. John’s football game that afternoon in nearby Collegeville. They were wearing St. Thomas t-shirts.

Other schools that have hosted the foundation include Marquette, the University of San Francisco, Notre Dame and Catholic University. So it’s an honor for St. Thomas to be chosen by Opus as a partner in recognizing unsung heroes who deal with society’s most persistent social problems.

What I don’t want you to forget is a campus organization that also is dealing with a persistent social problem: the lack of people of color working in newsrooms, public relations and ad agencies across the country. Trying to raise those numbers is the goal of ThreeSixty, the fledgling non-profit that’s been at St. Thomas since 2001. Its annual fundraiser comes two days after the Opus event – Friday evening, Nov. 6, in Binz Refectory.

“Tommie Days” unfolded right outside my office on the first floor of OEC last Thursday and Friday. The sounds of our helpful Admissions counselors answering similar if not identical questions over and over again, each time with an authentic smile in their voice, filled the halls. As I eavesdropped in between meeting current students and – I’ll admit – snacking on a cookie or two, I experienced a real source of sweetness on our campus. Yes, define the term “sweet” however you will: “awesome,” “delightful,” “pleasing to the senses” or “gratifying.” I think the work of our Admissions staff is all that, and more.

For some reason, I had a number of conversations recently with St. Thomas employees about their feelings regarding the university. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the high unemployment rate. Maybe it’s the overall economic uncertainty. Maybe it’s just that stage in people’s lives and employment.

Attitudes varied.

Who doesn’t love the fall colors, or getting hopelessly lost in a corn maze, and you can’t beat the feeling of sleeping with the windows wide open, allowing the cold, crisp air to force you under a mound of blankets you haven’t seen since last winter. There is also excitement and energy as campus comes back to life, and that’s why I love the month and all the promises of the new academic year.

Although we’ve always adored living adjacent to campus, last weekend proved to be an exciting opportunity to fully embrace the richness and to witness the extent to which we really do live in – to borrow Father Dease’s recent words – the best place. Our newfound appreciation of life in the neighborhood was all thanks to our dying “Big Old Tree.”

They did exactly that on a couple of breaking stories recently. The first was a lockdown at St. Paul College after a student reported seeing a man with a gun. It happened late in the morning, and at 12:55 p.m., tommiemedia.com posted the story. The other example of perseverance and awareness is the updating of the cases of H1N1 flu on campus; Brent Fischer reported that the number doubled in a week. The 90-second video updates look crisp and clean, but they’ll be more interesting when the students roll in video to go with the pictures.

So, I am trying to get with the new media flow. But this past week also has been an opportunity to revel in slow-and-old television – with Ken Burns’ documentary, “The National Parks: American’s Best Idea.”

The unique characteristic of St. Thomas is how it intertwines all elements of life in its curriculum. Opportunities abound to pursue a plethora of academic, artistic, social, athletic and professional interests. This is our greatest strength. Our graduates cannot help but be well-rounded individuals.

Unfortunately, I noticed that some of my friends who walked south through the Arches after graduating last spring were apprehensive to leave the confines of John Ireland’s statue. Some of this hesitancy can be explained by a natural fear of the unknown, but another element may have been at play in their minds: never again would they be challenged in the same way to become a more holistic individual.

Now you might wonder, “What could Susan Alexander – nerd economist, academic, shunner of the limelight – have in common with Ms. Brazile?” A lot, I now think. Furthermore, I’d be willing to bet that almost everyone in that crowd of hundreds who stuffed OEC Auditorium felt a bond with her.

Editor's note: Father Erich Rutten, director of Campus Ministry, contributed this guest column to The Scroll.

We’ve all seen them – quirky, sometimes funny and sometimes annoying bumper stickers.

“Envision whirled peas.” “Dog is my co-pilot.” “When everything’s coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.” But there is at least one bumper sticker that is worth taking to heart: “Practice Random Acts Of Kindness And Senseless Acts Of Beauty.”

Last spring, in the heart of the financial crisis which has impacted so many and in the midst of the tragic disappearance and death of freshman Dan Zamlen, members of our community got together to promote a campaign to support “Acts of Kindness” at UST and in our local community.