Student Org Challenge 2024

Hello, all!

This is Brandon Cash, Director of Student Activities at St. Olaf College. I, along with Maggie and Kaya, wanted to send on a simple yet deep message of gratitude to all those who supported this year's Here for the Hill Student Organization challenge:

To our incredible student leaders, thank you for sharing your stories with our global St. Olaf community. Your joy, passion, and drive for your organizations shone so brightly, and I am grateful to work with each of you here on the Hill. Thank you for allowing us to join in celebrating you, your accomplishments, and your visions for the future.

To all those who made a gift, thank you for believing in and investing in our students and their experience. Each of you is a key player in the work these organizations do every day, and your impact is recognized and greatly appreciated.

As we move forward from this year's Here for the Hill challenge, I encourage all of you to stay connected with these organizations and their stories. My team in the Office of Student Activities and I are lucky to work with and learn from these leaders every day, and I extend a warm invitation to join us in witnessing how their impact will continue to spread on and off the Hill.

With deep gratitude,

Brandon 

A huge thank you to all of our supporters. 

We crossed the finish line strong!

Every one of you helped create a community, an experience and a memory. 

Student organizations are a key component to the Ole experience. 

I hope this week you got a glimpse into each organizations impact.

Your support means the world to us!

Thank you all for supporting student organizations!

UM! YAH! YAH!

Hello, all!

This is Brandon Cash, Director of Student Activities at St. Olaf College. I, along with Maggie and Kaya, wanted to send on a simple yet deep message of gratitude to all those who supported this year's Here for the Hill Student Organization challenge:

To our incredible student leaders, thank you for sharing your stories with our global St. Olaf community. Your joy, passion, and drive for your organizations shone so brightly, and I am grateful to work with each of you here on the Hill. Thank you for allowing us to join in celebrating you, your accomplishments, and your visions for the future.

To all those who made a gift, thank you for believing in and investing in our students and their experience. Each of you is a key player in the work these organizations do every day, and your impact is recognized and greatly appreciated.

As we move forward from this year's Here for the Hill challenge, I encourage all of you to stay connected with these organizations and their stories. My team in the Office of Student Activities and I are lucky to work with and learn from these leaders every day, and I extend a warm invitation to join us in witnessing how their impact will continue to spread on and off the Hill.

With deep gratitude,

Brandon 

Thank you all so much for supporting Gymnastics Club over the past few days!

At this week’s gym trip we interviewed a few of our members to learn more about what brought them to Gymnastics Club. If you’d like to help support the club and keep it running, please consider donating before the fundraiser closes!

Thank you,
Noah

Thank you so much to every single person that had donated. Your contribution allows to put on an event, even impactful than we could imagine. From everyone at the TEDx at St Olaf team - Thank you so much! You’re the best! 

Thank you to all those who gave to PLSA! We are so thankful for your support!

We have a super spooky video to share with you! Thank you for all of your support!

The challenge ends today at noon, and we’re currently 60% to our goal! 

Every contribution counts, no matter how small. 

Help us make a difference and ensure our students have the resources they need to succeed.

Thank you for your support!

Thank you so much for your support of EMPTY Theater! Because of your generous support, our small, young organization was able to lead the way in donations. We cannot tell you how much we appreciate your help, and we can't wait to use these gifts to provide musical theater opportunities for more Oles!

Wow, time flies! It's already the final day of the Here for the Hill challenge. Women's club soccer wants to say a big thank you to all who supported our club! We will only grow from here, adding more games, traveling to play against more teams, and having even more fun! 

This is how we celebrate a goal on the ice, and this is how Women’s Club Hockey is celebrating the final day of the Here for the Hill challenge with you! We want to say a big thank you to all who supported our club, your gifts will help us support more players, win more games, and show off our Ole pride! Keep checking our instagram @stolafwclubhockey throughout the year to follow how we do this season and watch even more fun content. Thank you!!

Thank you from Women's club Hockey!!

We are approaching the end of Day 3, and while we’ve made some progress, we’re still halfway to our goal. 

With just half a day to go, meeting our goal means unlocking funds to the Co-Curricular Opportunity Fund. 

This is the time for a big push! Share our challenge with everyone in your circle—friends, family, classmates—encourage them to  support our amazing organizations.

Only one day left of the Here for the Hill Challenge! If you have not supported, now is the time to do so! Your gifts will support students learning about the world through experience, intergenerational connection, and service. We appreciate how much you value what we do, because bridging communities is an integral part of healing our world and building a town people want to live and study in. With less than a day left, now is the time to share and support us in our goal to make the world a better place and learn in the process!

This spring, EMPTY Theater is producing a full-scale production of the musical Big Fish. This beautiful show tells the story of a pragmatic son and his over-imaginative father as they sort fact from fiction in his father’s final days. It is a story about forgiveness, love, and compassion. Watch the video below to learn more about the show from director Ben Siegel!

To put on this show, we will need funds for licensing and materials, set, props, costumes, and lights rental. Please consider giving to EMPTY Theater to provide nearly 40 actors, designers, production team members, and pit musicians the opportunity to create meaningful art in community.

Our speakers need your help!! I think what scares us most is not having enough funding to host our amazing speakers and put on our event! Any donation will help make our March 8th TEDx event BOOtiful!

Hey again Oles!

As our club continues to grow we continue to make even more fun memories together. Here are some of our members favorite times on and off the ice. We are so thankful to be able to foster a positive and silly place for women to play hockey and make friends! Your gifts help us to continue growing and win more games! Um Yah Yah!  

Happy Halloween from St. Olaf Equestrian Club! We strive to bring the joys of horseback riding to students on campus through lessons, trail rides, workshops, and other fun activities like movie nights. Take a look at what some of our amazing members have been up to lately. We appreciate your generosity in making the equestrian sport more accessible to all students!

Hooray for Day 3!

At Aspiring Educators, we strive to close the gap between what we learn in class and what we will practice one day! Ben Siegel, junior English and Education Major and AE Vice President, says more about how we do that in the video below!

Hello, we are the St. Olaf Special Olympics Club, and we are so excited to take part in this year's Here for the Hill Challenge! We are a student organization that partners with Special Olympics Minnesota to create inclusive athletic and social opportunities for our community.

Our main offerings include open gym sessions where athletes can practice various sports, festive holiday parties that bring people together, participation in the thrilling Polar Plunge fundraiser, and community-building food drives. We work to foster connections between St. Olaf students and Special Olympics athletes while promoting inclusivity through sports and social events. We are asking for your support to help make our programs more accessible and impactful for all participants. Thank you for your generosity and for checking out the St. Olaf Special Olympics Club!

Thank you for all of your help. 

Today's Here for the Hill promotion is an interview with President Rundel Singer! APO Vice President Kathryn Diest and Sergeant at Arms Caitlin Lee had the luxury to interview President Singer about her time in APO! Alpha Phi Omega is a luxury to be a part of because we learned that it is not offered at every college or university. This interview gave us so much inspiration to implement more meaningful connections with our community, and with donations we can make bigger changes in Northfield. Watch this video to hear about her wonderful experience and why APO is meaningful to her.

Hey there from the Women’s club soccer leadership team! Listen to some of the best parts of our club directly from its members. We provide a great environment to make friends for life, also don’t forget to check out our instagram @stolafwcs!

We’re 40% of the way there, but we need a big push to meet our goal!

Let’s rally together to maximize our impact today! Share your stories, photos, and videos that showcase the difference gifts can make. Encourage your network to contribute!

Ole Community, we can make a significant impact for our organizations and the communities they serve. 

Day 2 Recap: Another Amazing Day! 🌟

As we close out Day 2 of our challenge we are 37% of the way there! 🎉 Keep it going!  

Have you seen all of the content our orgs have created so far? Did you know Oles had so many clubs and organizations to choose from? Did you also know that Oles are not limited to being a member of just one?

Tomorrow is Halloween -- Be ready for Spooky vibes and cheesy puns!

Hello Again!

Here at AE (formally known as Aspiring Educators), we are passionate about integrating events into the curriculum of our many education courses! Instructor of Education Courtney Humm speaks more about that process and how AE will utilize your generous gifts!

The St. Olaf Pre-Law Association has greatly helped us on the Exec team. From community building to resource sharing, PLSA has given us the chance to grow confidence as we encounter things like the LSAT and law school applications. We want to be able to give these opportunities to others. Give your support today so that we can continue to help new and current pre-law Oles. 

Um Yah Yah! 

For Day 2, we will hear from Mason Buck, a junior Biology Education major and AE Treasurer. Mason will speak more about our purpose, what we do, and his perspective on Aspiring Educators!

Hi everyone!

Vortex is so much more than a frisbee team. We are a community dedicated to empowerment, camaraderie, and growth, both on and off the field. We believe in lifting each other up, celebrating our achievements, and overcoming challenges together. By contributing to our fundraiser, you're not just supporting our athletic journey; you're investing in the laughter, memories, and connections that make our team truly special. Take a look at some of the shenanigans we've gotten into over the last couple years! 

Happy Here for the Hill day 2!! 

Today we are thanking all of our blood donors who participated in the APO sponsored St. Olaf blood drive. Because of our donors we were able to reach 438 patients. With any donations, we will be able to continue to volunteer in meaningful events. THANK YOU DONORS!

Thank you for supporting Women's Club Lacrosse. Your donation will help us compete, train, and prepare for the season!

We’re excited to dive into Day 2, and I have some fantastic news to share: we’re already 25% of of the way to our goal! 🎉

One thing I love about the Student Org Challenge is getting to work with incredible students orgs. Their energy and creativity are what make this challenge so great!

Follow along with our content and don't forget to check out the leaderboard down below and make your gift to your favorite organizations!

Another part of the challenge is bonus dollars. Organizations have the opportunity to win through a series of mini challenges. Check out the @stolafos to see the winners!

Happy Challenge Week!

Hi again! 

At EMPTY Theater, we cherish the passion, accessibility, and unique opportunities that make student musical theater so special.

Today, we want to share a testimonial from Maggie Housley, a sophomore who acted in our 24 hour musical and is currently assistant stage managing our production of Big Fish. 

Maggie’s experience reminds us why our work matters! If you want to help make musical theater accessible for all St. Olaf students, please consider a gift to EMPTY Theater today. We just have two days to go!

Hello from the St. Olaf Boxing Club!

At Boxing Club, we seek to provide a safe environment for anyone to learn the fundamentals of the sport, and create a community for more experienced members. We host an annual sparring showcase in the spring open to the public. 

With your support last year, we have been able to purchase additional equipment to keep our club accessible and affordable for all members. We greatly appreciate your contributions to our club.

Hey there Oles,

Women’s Club Hockey here! We create an inclusive and encouraging environment at our practices so in the spirit of that we made a “translation” video of some common hockey slang. Hope you have a day filled with celly’s and don’t forget to wear your bucket! 

Hey again Oles! At women’s club soccer we have lots of fun, so meet the positions that make up our team! Also, check out the new jersey’s we worked for this season, looking good! 

Our club makes sure to take all players, no matter the experience. Your support will help us continue to have a supportive inclusive atmosphere.

Some of our Millstream regulars talk about what makes our weekly visit to the retirement home Millstream Commons so special! Our program Tuesdays with Millstream is the foundation of all the work Community Connections does. 

We believe in service that is grounded in real connections that are mutually beneficial for both the students and community members. Both the students and the residents gain so much insight and come away from every visit feeling a closer connection between the college and the town. 

We feel the work we are doing is so important for everyone in Northfield, and ask that you help us keep this important program going with a share or a gift. Thank you for helping us reach our goal!

As we close out Day 1, we can reflect on all of the hard work our orgs have put in to prepare for this week. All the videos, photos, social media posts and messages. 

Our St. Olaf Community is truly unmatched! Student organizations are vital to the college experience - The stories shared today proved that.

Oles Can. Oles WIll. 

Let’s keep the energy high and continue to show our support for the hard work each organization is doing!

Spread the Word: Continue encouraging your friends and family to check out the amazing work being done by our student organizations.

Stay tuned for more updates tomorrow! 

Night Ole Community!

The St. Olaf Mock Trial team is proud to be part of a supportive network that is willing to contribute to our success as a competitive team representing Saint Olaf College!

We are thankful for any and all financial gifts that will cover costs associated with tournament fees, travel & stay, competition materials and more. Thank you for your continued dedication to our professional development and efforts to foster community and academic success for all of our members. 

If you have any questions or are interested in learning about our mission and/or more ways to support our organization check out our website at: https://pages.stolaf.edu/mocktrial/. 

With gratitude,

STO Mock Trial Executive Board

Hello St. Olaf community!

We are the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and we need your help raising funds for our organization. This year, we hope to raise money for supplies like megaphones, drums, and keffiyehs for protests. We also want to spread awareness and educate our community about Palestine through displays and tabling events. We hope to grow our organization this year and expand our voices to reach all Oles. 

Your support will help us to spread the Palestinian cause and advocate for peace here on campus, so we hope you consider donating. We have a lot of plans and hopes for this year, so we greatly appreciate your support. Thank you so much for your help, and Free Palestine!

Hi all! My name is Olivia Wise and I am the Co-Executive Producer of TEDx St. Olaf College alongside Lukhanyo Zwane. We are super excited to be a part of this campaign as we are building our organization in its early years! We are fairly new to St. Olaf, with this year being our second year with an event after our first event in 2022. The TEDx event was a HUGE success and it would not have been made possible without the help of people like YOU! 

Our motto is "ideas with spreading" and we are asking for those who align with this message to help donate to fund our event on March 9th, 2025. Our theme is Perception. Production Executive Ellie alongside her teammate Jennifer are here to tell you more about us. Thank you so much for your generosity and we hope to see you at our event this spring online or in person!

To learn more about this year's theme, click here.

To learn more about TEDx events, click here.

Hi All! My name is Grace Milhaupt and I am the senior captain of Vortex, one of the women's ultimate teams here at St. Olaf. To kick off our Here for the Hill Campaign, I compiled a highlight reel from our last season, or as we refer to it, 'the road to Nationals'! Over the last several seasons, Vortex has consistently ranked among the top ten teams in the country. Coming off of a third-place last year, we are super excited to dive back into our season and begin the process of preparing for Nationals.

Frisbee operates entirely separate from the NCAA as our tournaments and rankings are sanctioned through USA Ultimate. This means that we must travel both in and outside the Midwest in order to be eligible to compete in nationals. Along with my fellow captains, Char Batchelor and Maggie Walsh, Vortex leadership remains committing to doing our best to eliminate any financial barriers that sideline our players.

Donors—this is where we could use your help! All donations will go towards helping us continue to achieve this goal as well as other team purchases like new jerseys and food during tournament weekends!"

The St. Olaf Pre-Law Student Association (PLSA) is the only pre-professional club at St. Olaf meant for students going into law. Because there are no requirements or specific majors for a pre-law student, having a community to exchange information and resources is crucial. 

PLSA provides a regular presence on campus for these students and allows them to expand their knowledge of the field and make valuable connections. Give your support today. 

Hello, we are Community Connections, and we are so excited to take part in this year’s Here for the Hill Challenge! We are a student organization that aims to provide students with opportunities to connect with and impact the larger Northfield community. 

Our main offerings are Tuesdays with Millstream, a program where we go to the Millstream Commons, a local retirement community, to chat with the residents and our PenPal program with 50North. We also love to help out around the community wherever is needed. We are asking for your support to help us make our pen-pal program as accessible as possible. Thank you for your generosity and for checking out Community Connections!

Hello from Alpha Phi Omega! We are an organization that values service and friendship as we take on hours of fellowship and service projects! With our generous donations we received last year, we were able to accept more pledges and make our fellowship more diverse. We appreciate any and all donations! 

Check out our instagram, @stolaf_apo, for more updates throughout challenge week! Your donations allow us to provide meaningful services to the community and nation. Thank you! Um Yah Yah!

We’re excited to kick off a week of creativity, collaboration, and community spirit! With 43 amazing student organizations participating, this is our chance to come together and be Here For The Hill!

This week, we will show our community the power of student organizations and the impact they have on Oles. 

Watch as organizations create and share engaging content throughout the week! From videos to social media posts, you’ll see the passion and creativity behind each community.

Share the content you love and encourage friends and family to support their favorite organizations.

UM! YAH! YAH!

Happy Challenge Week!

Here in the Film Production Society, we are dedicated to creating a collaborative group of individuals that produces high quality and successful short films during our time at St. Olaf. Our members have the opportunity to work through the entire filmmaking process and receive vital pre-production, on-set, and post-production experience. 

We have been very fortunate to see our films win awards in multiple festivals, and we couldn't have done that without the support of all those who make what we do possible.

Should you choose to participate and support our club and other St. Olaf student organizations, our share of the gathered amount will be used to better our equipment, knowledge, and resources as we move forward. We hope you all are as passionate as us when it comes to supporting the arts and film in the college experience!

Support Women's Volleyball Club & enjoy this post-practice team picture!

Hello everyone! 

We are Tempest, a women's ultimate frisbee team! We compete in tournaments across the United States and love to have fun, grow, and compete as a team! 

We would appreciate your support during the Here for the Hill campaign! Our team has grown more and more each year, so your continued support would mean the world!

The St. Olaf Dance Team needs your help to raise enough money for everyone to participate in dancing at DTU Collegiate Nationals in Orlando, Florida, this Spring! 

At Nationals, we will compete and perform both jazz and pom routines against other Division III college teams. This year, we have doubled in size and talent, meaning we need your help more than ever as we fundraise! 

The Dance Team allows students to continue participating in recreational and/or competitive dance while supporting St. Olaf athletic teams and engaging in intercollegiate competitions. We are an inclusive, competitive sports club offering equal opportunities for students who do not have as much experience as those coming to St. Olaf with years of dancing experience.

Hello Oles, 

St. Olaf Women's Club Hockey is so grateful to be a part of the Here for the Hill campaign again. With the generous gifts we received last year, we were able to purchase away game jerseys and schedule more games! We just got back from our first away series against UW-Stout where we won both of our games! 

Um Yah Yah! Check our Instagram @stolafwclubhockey for more updates about our club and what we've been up to this year. We appreciate your support in making our club more accessible and opening doors for us to compete with more teams and build a larger network of women's club hockey! 

Hey, Oles! Meet the Women's Club Soccer Team of 2024-25! We are so excited for this awesome group of soccer players (including seven new freshmen)! Our club focuses on creating a positive and encouraging environment to continue playing the sport we all love. 

Your support will help us continue to grow and play more soccer! Make sure to check out our Instagram @stolafwcs.

Met the team by class year:

Our Freshmen

Our Sophomores

Our Juniors

Our Seniors

Hi Everyone! We are the International Student Organization. We come from all over the world and together we bring people from across the globe together through our amazing events throughout the year. We aim to build communities across diverse backgrounds and unite people as one. 

We had a record of about 400 people come to our largest event last year, International Night 2024 and it turned out great! We hope to do the same and even better this year. With your support we will work towards these goals and to create amazing experiences for us Oles!

Hi, we are Aspiring Educators! 

Aspiring Educators is a student organization that seeks to promote the professional and personal development of St. Olaf students interested in pursuing careers in education. Our programming directly emphasizes diversity, equity, and inclusion within our mission to provide opportunities for students to acquire critical knowledge and skills for serving a diverse community of learners in their futures. We host guest speakers, hold discussions on education-related topics, reach out to our local community, and promote connections between Education students.

Watch the video below to learn more about what we do!

Today, we would like to feature Dulce, a senior Education student who has been involved with AE throughout her time at St. Olaf. Here’s her story:

“AE has been impactful to me as a result of the opportunities it has provided me. I have been part of the AE executive board since I was a sophomore. I have appreciated my positions on the board as it allowed me to interact with upperclassmen Education students, who have given me advice on classes and experiences in the Education field. In addition, the events that AE has hosted in the past, have taught me so much about what a career as an educator may truly feel and look like. For instance, when Minnesota social studies teacher Kevin Silberman visited I learned about what first year teachers can expect from school districts and students.”

Thank you so much for considering a gift to Aspiring Educators!

Hello! We are the St. Olaf Figure Skating Club, and we are so excited to be participating in Here for the Hill this year! We teach beginners how to skate at weekly lessons, perform at hockey games, and put on an ice show each semester. 

Your support will help us continue to make these experiences possible! Thank you!

Hi, we’re EMPTY Theater!

EMPTY Theater is a student musical theater ensemble. We want to create musical theater opportunities for student artists and share meaningful stories with the campus community. There is a far higher demand for musical theater on this campus than the department could possibly fulfill, and this year, the Theater department isn’t putting on any musicals. We want to fill this gap in the school’s offerings, so we are devoted to putting on at least two musicals this year.

We just put on a 24 hour musical, an opportunity for students to connect over the joy and chaos of putting an entire show together in just one day. It was a delight to see the relationships that participants formed and to see how much fun everybody – cast, crew, and audience alike – had with the process. We were amazed by the show’s reception; we had a couple hundred people lined up at the door to get into the show!

This spring, we are producing a full-scale production of Big Fish. This beautiful show tells the story of a pragmatic son and his over-imaginative father as they sort fact from fiction in his father’s final days. It is a story about forgiveness, love, and compassion. To put on this musical, we will need funds for licensing and materials, set, props, costumes, and lights rental. The show will provide an opportunity for nearly 40 actors, designers, production team members, and pit musicians to create meaningful art in community.

In order to make this happen, we need your support. Please watch the video below to learn more about EMPTY and consider making a gift today. Your gift will allow us to build community, grow leaders, and explore theater’s limits. Thank you so much!

We're the St. Olaf Powerlifting Club — A small community lifting more than just weights. We push each other to be stronger, stay disciplined, and build real bonds. Meeting at Tostrud is our way of growing together, and we’d love to keep that going strong. 

With the “Org Challenge” happening, any support means the world to us. Gifts help us stay equipped and keep the energy alive with things like new gear and maybe even a competition. Thanks for cheering us on and being part of this journey!

Learn a bit about Psych Club!