Archive Posts
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Schulze School of Entrepreneurship Receives USASBE Model Program Award
Professional NotesThe University of St. Thomas’s Schulze School of Entrepreneurship has been named the 2026 USASBE Model Program Award winner for Large Institutions, the highest honor presented by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. The award recognizes universities that demonstrate sustained excellence in entrepreneurship education while providing students meaningful opportunities to develop entrepreneurial…
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Student Innovators Turn Ideas Into Winning Ventures at St. Thomas
St. Thomas 2030Three University of St. Thomas students began speaking at the same time, their voices overlapping until the business competition judges could no longer understand what they were saying. The confusion was intentional. Teammates Sam Mahannah ’26, Ilham Mohamud ’26 and Breanna Ranglall ’26 simulated someone experiencing a traumatic brain injury. The moment of chaos illustrated… -
Madam President: Ilham Mohamud Leads St. Thomas Undergraduates With Purpose
Humans of St. ThomasWhen Ilham Mohamud was elected president of the Undergraduate Student Government in spring 2025, the moment marked far more than a historic first for the University of St. Thomas. As the university’s first Black Muslim woman to hold the office, Mohamud’s leadership had begun long before her name appeared on a ballot. The senior from… -
A New Kind of Coffee on Campus, and the Student Behind It
People & CultureGeorge Dannecker '28 didn't come to the University of St. Thomas looking for a business opportunity. He had already found one at the finish line of a trail race on the east coast. Now, the sophomore marketing and entrepreneurship major is bringing that discovery to campus, proving that entrepreneurial thinking can thrive anywhere, even 1,500… -
First-Year Students Embrace Entrepreneurship at Innovation Immersion
People & CultureA week before classes began at the University of St. Thomas, nearly 150 first-year students filled with entrepreneurial spirit participated in Freshman Innovation Immersion, an exciting day of business ideation and creation. Now in its 11th year, the daylong Schulze School of Entrepreneurship event, which is open to first-year students from all disciplines, challenges them… -
Why a First-Gen Veteran Chose Entrepreneurship at St. Thomas
People & CultureDarcy Nguyen '26 arrived at the University of St. Thomas with a clear vision: study business at the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship so she can one day reopen her family’s restaurant, Pho Saigon. The West Side spot, which her parents ran for a decade, closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Nguyen's dream of sharing authentic… -
Largest First-Year Class in St. Thomas History Marches Through the Arches
People & CultureThe skies over St. Paul had a steady drizzle on the morning of the University of St. Thomas’ annual March Through the Arches as first-year students gathered at the edge of the lower quad, adjusting purple shirts and snapping photos with family. Then, a few minutes before the ceremony began, sunlight broke through. It was… -
South Africa to St. Thomas: Why This Fashion Entrepreneur Pursues an MBA
Business & LawBorn in Botswana and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, Jessica Khupe ‘26 MBA has family ties to the University of St. Thomas dating back to the early 1990s. Her uncle, Dr. Keith Bothongo ’92, earned both his MBA and master’s in international management degrees at St. Thomas before founding Bothongo Group in Sandton, South Africa,… -
From the Gutter Up: How A Young Entrepreneur Grew His Business
Business & LawMichael Fafinski ’25 is an enterprising young man. The University of St. Thomas alumnus who majored in entrepreneurship, launched a landscaping company at age 16. Now, at age 23, he owns a gutter installation business with plans to grow through acquisitions. “I am going to sell this business in a decade or so and leverage… -
Students Turn Ideas Into Action at Fowler Global Social Innovation Finals
Business & LawUniversity of St. Thomas hosts international student competition focused on solutions to the world’s toughest social and environmental challenges. Seeing discarded clothing clog up rivers in Ghana inspired Natalie Larson ’26 and Noah MacDonald ’26 to create change. That change led to these social entrepreneur students becoming finalists in the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge…