The University of St. Thomas has experienced many changes over the last 141 years. What started with a few small seminary buildings grew to the Kasota stone campus of today. Within the walls of the university's buildings, on the lawns of its quads and on the streets that define its campuses, lives a breadth of stories and experiences unique to the Tommie community.
Understanding the importance of these stories, faculty and staff from the College of Arts and Sciences set out to listen, capture and recreate these lived experiences. The result: Hidden Stories of St. Thomas, a series of 10 audio adventures created with students and inspired by places around the St. Paul campus.
One of the stories, “Mouth of the Mighty Mississippi,” invites listeners to take in the beauty of the grotto and imagine what the Mississippi river would say to a student studying nearby.
After exchanging quips, the student and the river hear the sound of bagpipes in the distance and begin to share a moment that many on the St. Thomas campus have experienced. “This, right here, is wonderful," the student says to the river. "You're a part of something wonderful.”
At the helm of this project is Dr. Amy Muse, professor in the department of English, and Dr. Kristi Wenzel Egan, associate professor and chair of the department of Communication Studies. Together, Muse and Wenzel Egan also direct the Scene Setters initiative, a hub for theater and storytelling on campus.
“Scene Setters is all about connecting students to each other and their communal home,” Muse said. “What better way than to share stories of the places you love best at St. Thomas—especially ones that others might not know about?”
Muse and Wenzel Egan found a partnership with Wonderlust Productions, a St. Paul-based ensemble of professional artists and actors known for creating site-specific theater and audio adventures that bring communities together. Their first project was to conduct storytelling circles on campus. They invited students, staff, faculty, alumni and members of the Tommie community to share their memories, experiences and favorite stories from their time on campus.
After the story circles, the Wonderlust team set out to write, workshop, record and produce the audio plays. Drafts of the plays were shared with the Scene Setters student advisory board, and public readings were held to gather additional community feedback.
David Musherure '29 is a marketing management student who worked as a Hidden Stories voice actor.
“People at St. Thomas are very curious people," Musherure said. “And it's not just us — people on Summit and Grand who have houses, who have kids who go to Saint Paul Academy, are going to come walk around and say, 'Hey, what's this new thing, I never saw this on the arches before.' And they'll hear our voices. I think that's really unique.”
Students from several disciplines also worked to document the entire process. Four students from the department of Emerging Media were tasked with creating a series of webisodes that capture the magic of storytelling circles. Sydney Baxter '27, Scott Leslie '28, Devin Nguyen '26 and Eli Bieker '27 worked alongside Dr. Peter Gregg, associate professor and chair of the department.
“We collaborated to collect interviews and gather footage of key people involved and events related to the project,” Baxter said about the production process. “I hope that the finished plays help people feel seen and more connected to the St. Thomas community.”
Bieker said the team brought what they learned in class into this project. “I gained skills in documentary production through classes in both my Digital Media Arts major and my Journalism minor. This project really helped me bring those worlds together.”
The team of students was given creative freedom to craft the video series as they saw fit. “I believe it both led a to a higher quality work in the end and provided an incredible learning experience for our team,” reflected Bieker.
Another team of students, Andy Fox '26 and Alex Hawks '28, worked alongside the MIC creative team to illustrate a map and icons that guide listeners through the audio plays. Hawks, a student in the Earth, Environment and Society department, used the skills gained in his cartography classes, as well as his passion for hand-drawing maps, to illustrate the Hidden Stories pamphlet map.
Hawks hopes this project will compel Tommies to explore campus, perhaps a bit more thoroughly than they already have. “As we know, the common good benefits all aspects of St. Thomas life," he said. "And that means all sides of campus deserve equal recognition.”
All are invited to learn more and visit campus! Audio plays can be experienced in-person on campus or via the Hidden Stories website.
