Article Photos

MARSHALL - Southwest Minnesota State University had an ally in Doug Sweetland.

"He kept this institution growing and vibrant. Frankly, he kept it here," Southwest Minnesota State University Vice President of Finance and Administration Doug Fraunfelder said.

"He's the guy who brought SSU back from the brink of extinction," said Randy Abbott, a former administrator at the university.

Sweetland died Tuesday of cancer at his home near Lynd. He was 70.

Sweetland was SSU's interim president from July 1994 to May 1997 and was permanent president from 1997 to 2000.

Long-time university booster Warren Quarnstrom said he's not sure the university's future was as precarious as a possible closure when Sweetland became president.

"I'm not sure at the time the risk was that high," Quarnstrom said. But, "I think Doug did an outstanding job. I would say he was interested and active.

"He had a good mind and was a good thinker," Quarnstrom added.

"He was very dedicated to the college," Marshall businessman Doug Hamilton said.

"I think he bridged the gap between the community of Marshall and the university," former university athletic director and now director of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Butch Raymond said.

Sweetland helped to build the region's sense of ownership in the university, said Tim Alcorn, the director of the Minnesota Agriculture and Leadership program at SMSU.

"He never apologized for being rural," Alcorn said. "With Doug that was always something he took pride in."

"He was always out in the community banging the pots and pans for the university. He put Southwest on the map," Hamilton said.

Sweetland expanded the university's graduate programs, added majors and programs that brought instructors into the region.

"He grew this institution by almost 35 percent," Fraunfelder said. "We experienced huge growth and we've never shrunk since."

The enrollment, programs and profile grew at SSU because Sweetland was able to take risks, identify strengths of those he worked with and expected candid discussions with staff, those who worked with him said.

"He was somebody you were comfortable telling the truth to because you knew that's what he really wanted," SMSU provost Beth Weatherby said.

Sweetland asked staff about strengths and what they saw themselves during and often, it placed them in positions they now say they have because of Sweetland, Weatherby said.

Sweetland hired him as athletics director when he had no experience as one, Raymond said. But Sweetland trusted him to do the job, Raymond said.

Abbott is convinced history will show Sweetland's tenure at the university was pivotal.

"If you look back at the history of Southwest, there are two presidents that stand out who saved the institution," Abbott said. The first was former president Jon Wefald, who served as president in the 1970s when there was speculation of closing a then young university. Wefald went on to eventually become the president of Kansas State.

Sweetland arrived at SSU well into his career after serving at various administrative and faculty positions at Winona State University and the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse.

SSU's enrollment was declining when Sweetland arrived, the campus ripe with in-fighting, Abbott said. The ties to Marshall and the region were minimal and interest in the university was waning, he said.

Sweetland changed that.

People in the region responded to Sweetland's pride in the university's setting and his desire to expand the services and mission to the region.

After his retirement, Sweetland stayed involved in the community and jumped into politics when he ran unsuccessfully against Marty Seifert for state representative in 2000.

Services for Sweetland will be at 2 p.m. Friday at St. Stephen Lutheran Church in Marshall. Visitation will be from 4-8 p.m. Thursday with a prayer service at 7:30 p.m. at Rehkamp-Horvath Funeral Home in Marshall and from 1-2 p.m. Friday at St. Stephen Lutheran Church.