By Allison Conner
Published 4:51 pm on October 15, 2025
Celebratory music carried across the Bemidji State University campus on Oct. 2, drawing in students, staff and faculty to the Alumni & Foundation’s For the North Block Party. Among the gatherers was freshman Clara Barth, who had wandered over after class, caught up in the energy of Homecoming week.
On that unseasonably hot October afternoon, the crowd grew quiet as the $1,000 scholarship drawing was about to begin. In the audience, Barth — a freshman biology major from St. Francis — was unaware that a moment of chance would soon help shape her first semester at BSU.
There she stood, stunned, holding the winning ticket.
“I was just so surprised,” said Barth, who was one of the two scholarship winners. “That was not what I was expecting to be doing that day at all. While being at BSU, I’ve found myself doing things I never anticipated, and every opportunity opens another door.”
Barth said the crowd’s energy pulled her into the event before she realized it was a celebration of the For the North fundraising campaign. Even when the winning number rang out, Barth wasn’t expecting to be a grand prize winner.
She hesitated for a moment, unsure if she’d really heard her number, but a friend urged her forward. Swept up in the moment, yet still in disbelief, Barth made her way to the stage to happily accept the giant check.
“I knew it was my number, and my friend did too,” she said. “She looked at me and said, ‘Go, go!’ And I’m thinking, oh my goodness, I don’t do stuff like this. I was so nervous, but it was so exciting.”
The For the North campaign has already raised more than $20 million in support of student success stories like Barth’s. It stands as a momentous effort for BSU, defining a new era of impact and community engagement. The campaign will provide scholarships and resources that make college a flourishing experience for BSU students rather than a financially worrisome endeavor.
“I’m grateful for everything Bemidji State has offered me and for all the financial help I’ve received,” Barth said. “It puts me a step ahead in that way. I was expecting to be paying student loans for the rest of my life, but through BSU, I don’t think I’ll have to deal with that — and that’s really amazing.”
‘BSU has been full of surprises’
As Barth settles into her first year at Bemidji State, she’s finding that generosity is etched in nearly every part of campus life — and within a community that encourages her to try new things and chase opportunities she never imagined.
“BSU has been full of surprises,” Barth said. “I’ve been doing things I never expected. There are so many opportunities and outlets here. I can be in different clubs and do all kinds of things through them.”
She’s especially inspired by her involvement in The Wildlife Society, where guest speakers help connect her classroom learning to real-world career paths.
“We had a speaker talk about how their job is to specifically work with ducks,” she said. “That made me realize I could have a job that specializes in working with deer, my favorite animal. It opened my eyes to how many paths there are in this field, and that’s really exciting.”
That realization, paired with the unexpected scholarship win, has given Barth both an energized sense of clarity and a boost of confidence for her future.
Though the donors behind the For the North campaign didn’t write the oversized check themselves, their generosity is already shaping Barth’s academic journey and her ambition to pay it forward when it’s her turn one day.
“With all the help and support I’ve been given, I really want to put it to good use,” Barth said. “Whether it’s through my future job or volunteering, I want to find ways to give back. It feels like the right thing to do after being given so much.”
