Susan J. Day Scholarship

The Susan J. Day Scholarship is created to encourage and support students at Winona State University.

Criteria

1. Each recipient must be enrolled full-time and have a 3.5 GPA (4.0=A).
2. Each recipient must be classified as a junior or senior.
3. Each recipient must meet financial aid requirements determined by FASFA

Biography/Motivation

Susan majored in Health and Physical Education with a minor in Mathematics at the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse where she earned her bachelor’s degree in 1952. She received her master’s degree in Health and Physical Education from Winona State University in 1957 and received a Certificate of Advanced Study (Specialist Degree) in Administration and Physical Education from Northern Illinois University in 1969. Susan also completed additional graduate work at the University of Colorado, New York University and the University of Minnesota.

Susan taught junior and senior high school health and physical education in Winona from 1952-57 and was a teacher of the same subjects at Winona State University from 1957-1987. In her 30 years at WSU, Susan also served as the Chair for the department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation; the women’s swim coach, the University Presidential representative for the State University System and the State of Minnesota, assistant Vice-President for Academic Affairs, directly oversaw the construction of the middle of Memorial Hall, Director of Women’s Athletics, and the vice-president of the Alumni Society.

Outside of WSU, Susan held over a dozen positions involving the advancement of women’s athletics including vice president for the Physical Education Division of the Minnesota Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation; consultant for the State of Wisconsin at the first organizational meeting for women’s athletics in higher education, and committee member of the Minnesota Governor’s State Committee on Physical Fitness of Youth. She also served on the three person writing team for the first Policies and Procedures for the Minnesota Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, and the State of Minnesota Task Force “ Department of Professional Standards and Certification, to create program standards for Certification for Coaching Interscholastic Sports.

Susan was also extremely active in the community serving as a member in several organizations including the Civil Defense Communications Group, the Member Advisory Committee for the Winona YMCA, the River Trails Girl Scout Council, and the Westfield Golf Club Board of Directors (President).
Susan has also been elected to the Westfield Women’s Hall of Fame in 1986, awarded the City of Winona and State of Minnesota Women and Girls in Sports Breaking Barriers Award in 1997, and was inducted into the Winona State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997.
Susan’s long list of accolades and accomplishments pales in comparison to her kindness, generosity, and big heart. Many remember her as a woman whose concern for her students extended beyond the classroom.

Susan states When I joined the faculty at the Winona State Teacher’s College in 1957, there were approximately 800 plus students. I was hired to teach in the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. You soon got to know your students well including their backgrounds. Students shared problems openly and financial issues often came to the surface. When a student entered my office one very cold day wearing a very light weight jacket, I suggested she quickly go back to the dorm and get a warmer coat. She responded she did not have a warmer coat and she did not live in the dorm because her funds were insufficient. After a long discussion she said her father did not think she should go to college and would not cover that cost of a winter coat. I gave her $100 and sent her downtown to get a warmer coat. (Pre women’s athletic days) She returned all smiles a few years later and she insisted I accept a replacement $100. During my 30 years at now Winona State University I was treated well. Providing financial help for future leaders of Minnesota and possible national and global leaders is a must.