Outlook

College town banners

Friday, June 25, 2010

For generations, people passing through the Granite City failed to notice a college on the oak-crowned west bank of the Mississippi River.

Today more than 70 banners bearing the St. Cloud State University wordmark, logo and some with the words “Welcome to St. Cloud” extend into the community on three
sides, boldly proclaiming St. Cloud’s status as a college town.

The banners remind campus and community of the pledge President Earl H. Potter III made at his September 2008 inauguration. “We are not the ivory tower or a separate
town,” Potter said. “We are a university community that educates students by example, to engage in an active life as part of this community.”

St. Cloud State’s 18-month banner project climaxed in April with the hanging of the final 20 banners on the south and southwest margins of campus. Red St. Cloud State banners were mounted on University Drive light poles from Sixth Avenue west to Ninth Avenue. They alternate with black, tan and white Historic Southside Neighborhood banners. Black St. Cloud State banners were mounted on Fifth Avenue/Fourth Avenue light poles from University Drive south to 15th Street South, along the west edge of the university’s athletic complex.

In 2008, the university launched the project with red St. Cloud State banners on
University Bridge and University Drive west to Sixth Avenue. In 2009, university officials
teamed with city and neighborhood leaders for the second phase of the project. St. Cloud State banners, some red, some black, were alternated with city banners on Minnesota Highway 23 from Granite City Crossing Bridge west to Seventh Avenue. Black St. Cloud State banners were alternated with Historic Southside Neighborhood banners on Fifth Avenue from Minnesota Highway 23 south to University Drive.

The banners are more than five feet tall and nearly two feet wide. The street banners
are in addition to more than 70 smaller red ones that line campus walkways.

“Now when you come to St. Cloud there’s a bit more of an opportunity for you to
know it’s a college town,” said Loren Boone, assistant vice president of marketing and
communications. “Those banners shout college town.”

- Jeff Wood '81 '87 '95

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