By BSU Alumni & Foundation
Published 7:00 am on April 1, 2025
Travel back in time with us as we remember some of the momentous moments of Bemidji State history from the month of April.
April 4, 2015: Bemidji State women's hockey player Stephanie Anderson won gold at the IIHF World Championship when Team USA defeated Canada 7-5 in the gold medal game in Malmo, Sweden. Anderson assisted on the opening goal, as Annie Pankowski wrangled a rebound from Anderson's shot and wristed the puck past Canada's goaltender. Anderson was a +3 for the tournament as Team USA went 5-0.
April 9, 1980: Rebecca Stafford became Bemidji State's first female president when she came to campus for her first day on the job. However, the Harvard-educated sociologist soon quit mid-year to take another job in December 1981. Following her resignation, Stafford announced she accepted the position of executive vice president of Colorado State University, Fort Collins.
April 10, 1946: The Northern Student newspaper reported that more men than women were enrolled at the college for the first time in school history. Additionally, according to Miss Luella Keithahn, acting registrar, 125 of the over 300 students enrolled were veterans. The enrollment figures that spring showed an increase of 45 percent over the previous fall's figures.
April 21, 1951: Former Bemidji State All-American Arnie Johnson had an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double in the NBA's first-ever Game 7, helping his Rochester Royals defeat the New York Knicks for the league championship. Johnson tallied 3,735 total points over his seven-year professional career, including 2,617 points in the NBA throughout his final four seasons (8.8 ppg). Johnson's Royals went 324-163 during his reign.
April 22, 1993: The entire month of April 1993 was designated Cultural Diversity Month, with the theme “Undo Discrimination and Prejudice.” This ongoing awareness culminated with an event called Hands Across Campus, in which students and faculty came together on the lakefront by the union on the morning of April 22. At the noon hour, all in attendance literally joined hands in one big circle. Prior to the joined circle, there were cultural performances of dances and songs presented by students representing various nations, races and cultures. Over a dozen booths representing different cultures had been set up on the lawn, and spectators could go from one to the other and look over the artifacts ranging from clothes to paintings to brochures. President Les Duly, of course, was in the middle of all of this. His enthusiasm for promoting global awareness and cultural diversity never waned.
April 30, 2019: BSU held a “retirement” ceremony for the original Hagg-Sauer Hall, which was set to be demolished later that spring and replaced with a smaller “academic learning center” with more modern stylings. The ceremony included students and faculty etching memories, drawings, jokes and poetry on the walls; speeches from President Faith Hensrud and Rev. Ron Gladen; music; and more.
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