Four Johnnies to receive 2018 Man of Extraordinary Service Awards

Four Saint John’s University students will be honored with the 2018 Man of Extraordinary Service Awards.

Matthew Burgstahler, Nathan Williams, Austin Hingtgen and Ryan Graham will receive their awards during a private reception April 22 at SJU. Abbot John Klassen, OSB, of Saint John’s Abbey; Fr. Doug Mullin, OSB, vice president of student development at SJU; and Fr. Ian Dommer, OSB, director of Campus Ministry at SJU will be presenting the awards to the men, who each receive a monetary award of $2,500.

The award annually recognizes the work of four distinguished Saint John’s students who are characterized by personal commitment to service, which promotes community, justice, work with others to accomplish a greater good and thoughtful reflection about service in light of Benedictine Values and/or Catholic Social Teaching.

Candidates for this award are nominated by other students, faculty and staff of SJU and the College of Saint Benedict. Students can only receive the award once during their time at SJU.

Burgstahler is a senior integrative health science major from Sandpoint, Idaho, who is passionate about social justice – especially as it applies to health disparities and culturally competent care. He spent the past two summers at nonprofit organizations, including WellShare International (as a Jackson fellow) and Citizens League (as a Brandl Scholar) on projects surrounding child and maternal health care and racial equality. He studied abroad in 2017 in South Africa and volunteered at the Missionvale township clinic. He traveled to Guatemala on a medical mission trip his sophomore year. On campus, Burgstahler is co-director of the Honors Planning and Advisory Council; serves on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee; was a 2017 Newman Civic Fellow; is on the CSB/SJU student alcohol task force and a member of Johnnies in Action. He also had his undergraduate research presented at the 2018 Scholars at the Capitol event in February in St. Paul. Off campus, he is a volunteer at St. Cloud (Minnesota) Hospital and Anna Marie’s Alliance, and a swimming coach for Special Olympics Minnesota.

Williams is a junior economics major from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, who has two passions in life – advocacy and teaching. He is one of the presidents of the Mock Trial Club, where he was blessed with the opportunity to foster a positive learning environment – one where experimentation and growth was encouraged. The diverse and varied perspectives on the team allowed him to apply the Benedictine Value of listening to foster positive team dynamics. He also uses his academic background to advocate for the systemically disadvantaged using economics. Williams worked at the Minnesota Budget Project and also produced content for Econ in English, and realized he was advocating for people and not for numbers or percentages. It gave him the opportunity to understand the plight of systematically disadvantaged Minnesotans and advocate for them.

Hingtgen is a sophomore biochemistry major from Williston, North Dakota. Throughout the summer of 2017, he worked as a biology research fellow and a volunteer emergency medical technician on the Saint John’s campus. While working, he put together a fundraiser through the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, which raises money for childhood cancer research and was held Oct. 20, 2017 in St. Joseph, Minnesota. Hingtgen also volunteers at the CentraCare Dialysis Unit since the beginning of this school year, working with patients through creative writing and poetry, and at St. Cloud Hospital through the school’s Student Health Assistant program. Hingtgen has also continued his research in the biology department at CSB and SJU.

Graham is a first-year computer science major from Milwaukee. He sought to break free from the cycle of poverty and other oppressive statistics for African-American males in his hometown. He found his voice with a local nonprofit, Teens Grow Greens, and discovered his passions for helping and inspiring others. In his first year at SJU, Graham has dedicated himself to the Communications Club, First-Generation Student Advisory Board, piano tutoring, Enactus team, Senate Leadership Experience, working as an event planner assistant and PSRA, and was recently selected to be part of the 15th Entrepreneur Scholars cohort. From March 12-16, he took over Michelle Obama’s social media account for Better Make Room, a student campaign designed to reach students through social media and encourage them to go to college.