 Good morning. My name is Stephen Brozenstone, and I'm Chancellor of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. I want to extend my deepest condolences to the students, faculty, and staff of St. Cloud State University, to the community of St. Cloud, and most of all, to Dr. Pardo's wife, Christine, his children, and grandchildren. Rose Passing is a huge loss to St. Cloud State University. It's a loss to the state of Minnesota, and it's a loss to higher education. He was a highly respected leader, both here in Minnesota and across the nation, as well as around the world. I will miss his leadership and counsel immensely. Earl was a colleague and friend not only to me, but to presidents throughout the Minnesota State Colleges and University system. He played an absolutely vital role in shaping the strategic direction of St. Cloud State University and of higher education in Minnesota. Earl was a thoughtful, insightful leader who cared deeply about this university, its students, and the St. Cloud community. In this time of grief and transition, it is important that there be continuity in leadership. For this reason, I have asked Provost and Chief Academic Officer Ashish Vaidya to serve as Acting President. In addition, during next week's meeting of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees, I will bring forward for its consideration his appointment as Interim President. I've had the opportunity to work with Ashish over the past year. He is a gifted leader, and I know he will continue to work closely with faculty, staff, students, and the community throughout this transition. I have complete confidence in his ability to lead the university over the months ahead and to be an absolutely stellar partner with this community. He is singularly equipped to do so. I ask the university and the larger St. Cloud community to lend its support of Ashish and lend its support to the university's leadership team as they work through this difficult time. Once again, my condolences to the entire St. Cloud State University and greater St. Cloud community. I'm pleased to introduce to you Acting President Ashish Vaidya. Thank you, Chancellor Rosenstone. The tragedy that we are experiencing right now with the death of President Erlich, part of the third, is profound. Like every member of the St. Cloud State University community, my first and foremost concern is with the family, his wife Christine, and his children. Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the family at this time. As a campus community, we are all grieving this great loss, not only to St. Cloud State University, but to the greater St. Cloud community, the state of Minnesota, and frankly, the region and the global community as well. As the Chancellor pointed out, President Pato was an amazing leader, dedicated to student success at St. Cloud State, and preparing students for life, work, and citizenship in the 21st century. As we grieve his death, let us all come together as a community to share and strengthen the legacy that he leaves behind at St. Cloud State. Last night as we learned the news, the leadership team assembled quickly, and while it was a difficult conversation to have at St. Cloud State's team, we are here to show you that we remain committed to student success, first and foremost, and to regional and global engagement. President Pato's commitment to access an opportunity is unwavering in our work, and one of the prime reasons why I chose to join his team and him in partnership. His leadership has steered St. Cloud State towards some amazing, amazing accomplishments. Every program is grounded with a firm understanding of what are the needs of employers, but with the foundation of the Liberal Arts for all our employees and graduates. He is dedicated to keep the cost of education affordable for all, and to increase opportunities for each and every student of this region. His dedication to internationalization, diversity, and inclusivity were also clear as he did his work in the community and around the world. A week ago, I had the occasion to spend some time with him at the NAFSA annual conference, where some of you will know he serves on the board. We're among other things. We got a chance to talk a little bit about life and other kinds of interesting things. And one of our conversations had to do with the plenary speaker of the day, David Brooks, who I understood, President, was quite a fan of. David Brooks spoke about his latest book, The Road to Character. In that, he mentions the need for us to rebalance our scales with respect to resume virtues, the ones that bring us wealth, fame, and status. With that of eulogy virtues, those that exist at the core of our being, kindness, bravery, and honesty. I would say that President Potter has, over his lifetime, built a strong inner character, one filled with eulogy virtues. More information will be forthcoming in the weeks ahead about services and an opportunity to come together as a campus community to celebrate President Potter and his tremendous contributions to the university. I want to thank you all for being here in support. It means a great deal to us all at the university. I will now ask Mayor Dave Kleis to say a few words on behalf of the City of St. Claude. First of all, first off, my thoughts and my prayers are with Christine, his family, and the broader family, our community. Today, the last night, I lost a friend. St. Claude State University lost a friend. Our city lost a friend. Our community lost a friend. Earl's impact on this community will be felt well into the future. He had a remarkable ability to connect. The connection between St. Claude State University and the City of St. Claude has never been stronger, and that's because of his leadership. A true measure of the leadership is that impact that will be sustained because it wasn't a top-down approach. It's every aspect from faculty to students to staff connected with the community. Nine years ago this summer, I had the opportunity to meet with Earl, and his vision, his first connection, was to make sure that it was the community. He many times said, and I reiterate over and over, the university will not do well if the city does not do well, and the city will not do well if the university does not do well. He understood that connection, and that connection is deep because of his leadership. He also had a tremendous commitment to service. As a member of the Coast Guard, it was Earl Potter who created military connection here and his support for veterans and students returning. That's a legacy that also he's committed to. It's part of that service that's ingrained in him. He will truly be missed by so many, but his impact, his leadership, will live on in this community and certainly with this university. Again, our thoughts and prayers are with the family, all of us as a family of Earl. I want to introduce, he had a connection with students, again as I mentioned, it's all, and that's why he understood why he was here. The community and students, so I'll introduce the student senate president to have Kayla come up and say a few words. It's an honor to be here today with a statement from the family of Earl H. Potter. President Potter came to St. Cloud State because he felt this is the type of place he could make a difference. He was incredibly proud of St. Cloud State University and its students, faculty and staff. And he was likewise proud of the greater St. Cloud community. We thank you for your thoughts and prayers. Kristen Potter and the Potter family. Thank you, Michaela. We are now open for any questions. The chancellor, the mayor and I are available, including Adam Hammer, if there are other kinds of questions, so we're happy to open up the questions. Do you have any more specific information about the cause of the accident? Adam Hammer, director of media relations at St. Cloud State. Right now, there's no other information available except for what's already been publicly released by the state patrol. I think we had learned he was heading to a meeting. Was that associated with St. Cloud State or vegetation? Absolutely. In fact, he was heading to a meeting with our vice president for advancement, Matt Andrew and the St. Cloud State Foundation board chair. They were supposed to meet for dinner about raising additional money for the university. So he was constantly at work trying to bring additional resources for the university. Can you speak more specifically about some of the lasting impacts that you can see that students and alumni see on this campus that would not have been here if not for him? Well, in my short time here, about a year, it has become increasingly clear to me the kind of impact that he has and would have continued to have on this campus. As I mentioned a few minutes, the unwavering commitment to access an opportunity. The chancellor and I were with his family with Christine and his daughter briefly this morning. He, as an undergraduate, went to Williams College, a private liberal arts college. He understood the privilege that he had to go to a place like that. And as his experience matured, he was very clear that he wanted to serve public higher education, which is where, of course, he spent the most of his career. And so when he came to St. Cloud State, as you heard from Michaela, this was home to him and his family. Every aspect of what I see around the university with the students at the core is a powerful reminder of what he stood for at his campus. The quality of the education that occurs at this university, its commitment to its students, its preparation of students for the global world they're going to live in, and what it means to be global citizens. Not just a great liberal arts education, we learn to think and be creative and imaginative of an education that actually prepares you for the work that needs to be done for this community to continue to thrive. These are all monuments to the work that Earl Potter did as president over the years. There are few places in the country where we see the type of partnerships that this university has built with the region and with other universities and students around the globe. This morning I've received dozens of emails not only from our presidents but legislators and from partners globally for whom this university was a critical partner in serving students and preparing them for the future. That's all part of his legacy. He was unwavering, unwavering in his commitment to equity and access and diversity. It's not always an easy commitment to make, but he was unwavering in what values our students needed to learn, to grow with and what it meant for this university to serve this community. I think those are all part of the lasting legacy of President Earl Potter. Clearly from a community aspect there has never been a stronger relationship between St. Cloud State University and the City of St. Cloud. We often refer to that town and gown relationship that communities around the country try to strive for. We've achieved that here because of Earl's leadership. There is not only that connection with individuals but a physical connection. One of Earl's first things was to look at the Welcome Center, which you had to come into the university to be welcomed in the past. Now it's on the edge of the university where it connects community to the university. That's a physical connection that he helped. There's not a border commission from economic development to community engagement to all aspects that didn't create a greater connection. So that piece of his legacy, certainly, and that impact in the community is very visible because of his impact. McKenna, if you don't mind, could you share what his interaction was like with students and give us some insight into his personality? Definitely. Potter was definitely here for the students. He wasn't just administrative, but he was also caring and he always reached out to make those relationships with students. And he never forgot to stop and thank everyone for their work and effort that they put into better the university. And that's all he ever really wanted was to make this a great experience for all students. Did you ever have any kind of interaction or any personal story to share when you needed help on a project? Or did you do some type of work with the president? Yeah, definitely. This past year I was the vice president, so we had monthly meetings with him. And you just sit down and just kind of lay out all the work that you did. And he wouldn't just listen, but he would take in everything and then he would give you the best advice. He would encourage you in everything that you wanted to do. And then he would also tell you who to reach out to. And then just constantly keep up with you and just encourage you and make sure that you're advancing the way you wanted to. Yeah, he was really approachable. One day I went into his office and he was very dressed up as per usual. But then I saw these bright sky blue socks and I just had a comment on them. They were so cute. I was like, those are the best socks I've ever seen. And he could just see his face light up and then he's like sitting in the big office chair and just swivels to the president, which was summer vocal this past year. He's like, did you see my socks too? He was a really loving and caring guy. My name is Haji Yusuf and I was a student here at St. Cloud State University. From the first time I met President Poro, he's met this university open to everyone. Open to all my own minority students. He will talk to us, he will advise us. He played a big role in this university. He was a good friend of mine. He gave minority students and minority businesses an opportunity to do business with this university. And it's tough, it's tough too. I have a meeting with him tomorrow. I was supposed to meet him tomorrow. And I met with him last week and he waved at me goodbye. And it's one time I made him at CoBones and I saw him at the parking lot and I had my two and a half year old son. And he calls me across and says, Haji, Haji. And I look around and he's like, is that your son? It's my son. He's like, come over. So I went over to him and I told him like, you know, President Poro, I always look up to you. And he looks at me and he's like, no, Haji, I look up to you. So a lot of people in this community say that. Everyone I've spoken to say that. That he's so humble. And his time here, his open, he's made this space safe for everyone. Regardless of your religion, your color, your sexual orientation, where you come from, he was building a community. He was a bridge builder. He made it possible for everyone to connect. He was easy to connect to. I was just from, every time I called him, he was like, I want to meet with you. He would say, come, meet with me. You know, and that was for everyone I spoke to him. So he's just, I don't know. I feel for the family. I feel for everyone involved and for all the leadership here in this city. And everyone from me, from my family, we've lost a great guy. We've lost a great guy. And I'm sorry. I had just to say it. Sorry. President, what's your message to the students here hearing all this? You know, one of the last things he said actually, yesterday's President's Council meeting is my colleagues will remember. We were talking about the business of the university and all the nuts and bolts of things that can sort of distract us sometimes. And I think using his Coast Guard Captain sort of lexicon, which I was getting used to more and more over the course of the year, was steady as she goes. But I think the point that I want to make is that both through the hard work of what the President has done in the entire St. Claude State University community, our support for students will not change. We made that very clear day in and day out, not just this past year, not just the last nine years, but for decades for the length of this university. And so that support of being a place and an institution, we have adopted the paradigm of being a stewards of place. That we exist, as the Mayor mentioned, to make the region a better place and make it more prosperous from all aspects, and that's why the university exists. And that commitment will not change. Bringing the university has gone through some challenges, particularly budget and other things in the last couple of years. Just want to collect some thoughts from people from the SQ system or university officials on how President Potter was dealing with those challenges. All of my education has faced some astounding challenges over the last decade. I think it's not a challenge that's only been borne by St. Claude State University. And there are Potter at no time shied away from meeting the challenges. But also never shied away from avoiding expedient solutions to challenges. Always worrying about two things. One, is it good for students? And secondly, if the long run, is it going to be good for the university and this community? This past year the university started re-growing enrollment and the projections. By coincidence, we were reading tomorrow for his performance review. As our review materials over the weekend, the projections are that enrollments will grow again this coming fall. The budget is balanced at St. Claude State University. And the investments are continued to be made in a way of programs, in a way of facilities, in a way of work and partnerships for our students and for this community. Again, every college, university and state is facing huge financial challenges. But enroll led our thinking in how to deal with those challenges that are thinking about where we want to be still five or ten years down the road given the financial challenges that we confront. And it was relentlessly and steadily alive. We have borrowed very high for how it is to address challenges in ways that protect our students. The university is in very sound condition right now. And this leadership team has not been this beat in continuing to serve our students, continuing to serve this community and continuing to build partnerships necessary for prosperity in the region. Is there no further questions? Thank you all for coming. Thank you for being here. Thank you for your support. And that is all for today.