» Carroll president:
For first time, woman in top role at university
Carroll University chooses Sara Ray Stoelinga as its president — the first woman to serve in that role since the university in Waukesha was founded in 1846.
Carroll University announced Tuesday it has chosen Sara Ray Stoelinga as its next president — the first woman to serve in that role since the university in Waukesha was founded in 1846.
Stoelinga, 43, will start her new role as Carroll’s 15th president in July, succeeding Douglas Hastad, who is retiring after leading the university for over a decade.
She has spent her adult life at the University of Chicago, where she earned her bachelor’s and PhD in sociology before building a career in urban education.
Stoelinga currently is the Sara Liston Spurlark director of the University of Chicago Urban Education Institute, which has 500 employees and a $46 million operating budget. She started at the institute as an intern and worked across the institute’s units for more than 22 years.
Before her promotion to director was announced in 2015, she reached out to the professor who helped her get the internship there as a college senior — Geoff Stone, whom she had met at a university luncheon because she happened to be sitting next to him. They had chatted about her plans when she pulled out a brochure for the Urban Education Institute and said she wanted to intern there. Stone was provost at the time, knew the faculty director who started the institute and made a phone call on her behalf that led to the internship offer.
Stone is still a law professor at University of Chicago, and while Stoelinga did not keep in touch with him through the years, she said she contacted him last year because she wanted him to know that he had a profound impact on her life and that the phone call he made on her behalf more than 20 years ago had shaped her values in mentoring students.
She has helped as many students as she possibly could in the same spirit, she said in an interview Tuesday.
The Urban Education Institute trains urban teachers, conducts research, operates the UChicago Charter School, distributes tools and training to improve schools nationally, and creates knowledge to produce reliably excellent urban schooling, according to its mission statement.
Stoelinga also teaches at the university.
In spring 2015, Stoelinga received the Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Award. It’s the University of Chicago’s most prestigious teaching award and is believed to be the nation’s oldest prize for undergraduate teaching.
“Her passion and enthusiasm for education along with proven leadership ability and strategic thinking skills will enable her to build on the university’s tremendous accomplishments of the past decade and successfully propel Carroll into the future,” Jim DeJong, immediate past chair of the Carroll University Board of Trustees and chair of the presidential search committee, said in a statement.
Carroll has about 3,500 students, including undergrads and graduate students.
A native of Saint Paul, Minn., Stoelinga said she has aspired to become a university president.
She comes from a family of educators. Stoelinga’s father, Joseph Hallman, was a theology professor at the University of St. Thomas, while her mother, Janice Ray Hallman, taught high school and became a director of human resources for Saint Paul Public Schools.
“The values I grew up with had a profound effect on me,” she said.
conference coaches. The award is named for legendary Big Ten coaches Woody Hayes of Ohio State and Bo Schembechler of Michigan.
“Obviously, I’m very humbled by it and proud of it,” Chryst said on the Big Ten Network’s all-conference show. “And knowing that it might be the biggest team award, in the sense that I didn’t make one play this year.
“I feel fortunate to coach the players that we have and work with the coaches on the staff. I know that it took all of us.”
Penn State’s James Franklin was named the Big Ten’s Dave McClain Coach of the Year, an award voted on by the media and named for UW’s coach from 1978-’85.
The two coaches meet up in a few days when UW (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten) faces Penn State (10-2, 8-1) for the conference championship at 7:17 p.m. Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Chryst joins Barry Alvarez (1993, ’98) and Bret Bielema (2006) as the UW coaches to be named Big Ten coach of the year. Alvarez and Bielema were selected by the media.
“I think we’ve done some good things,” Chryst said before the show when asked about his role in the success UW has enjoyed in the last two seasons. “And what is great about athletics is you’ve got to keep doing it. I sure as heck don’t spend any time thinking about that or figure that out.
“I spend a lot of time trying to figure out what can we do to maximize this time, this opportunity.”
Chryst, 51, is the first UW coach to win at least 10 games in his first two seasons. Wisconsin defeated
USC in the Holiday Bowl last season to finish 10-3 overall.
Chryst replaced Gary Andersen, who left UW for Oregon State after the 59-0 loss to Ohio State in the 2014 Big Ten title game.
The Badgers players didn’t need long to embrace their new coach.
“All Coach Chryst had to do was be Coach Chryst,” redshirt junior wide receiver Jazz Peavy said. “I heard all the stories about him and he has lived up to all those expectations.
“He has been a great guy and a great coach and I feel like he has done a great job leading this team, keeping everybody close and tightknit, and created this family we have now.”
Peavy and others talked to veterans on the 2014 team, players who had worked under Chryst when he was UW’s offensive coordinator (2005-’11).
Senior cornerback Sojourn Shelton, a sophomore when Chryst was hired, talked to tight end Austin Traylor to get a scouting report on his new coach.
“He told me everything was going to be OK, that coach Chryst was a players’ coach and he was fun to be around,” Shelton said. “He truly cares about you on and off the field and I think it is easy for everybody to jump on board when you’ve got a coach like that.”
Tailback Corey Clement had lengthy talks last season with Chryst and running backs coach John Settle about whether to return to UW for his senior season.
“Me and him have grown quite close,” Clement said of Chryst. “He has made this decision to come back worthwhile.
“Coach Chryst has done an outstanding job just being patient with the guys. Once he got the job he just wanted to put this team on a positive path and he hasn’t looked back ever since. That is what you want in a head coach.”
Madison — Sitting at No. 6 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday night, Wisconsin enters the Big Ten Conference championship game with what appears to be an unlikely path to a playoff berth.
The Badgers (10-2) will need to defeat No. 7 Penn State (10-2) Saturday night in Indianapolis and likely have No. 4 Washington (11-1) and No. 3 Clemson (11-1) lose in their league title games.
Washington faces No. 8 Colorado (10-2) in the Pacific 12 title game at 8 p.m. Friday in Santa Clara, Calif. Clemson faces Virginia Tech (9-3) at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game in Orlando.
Alabama (11-0), which plays Florida in the SEC title game Saturday in Atlanta, remained No. 1 in the rankings. Ohio State (11-1) remained No. 2.
With Michigan (10-2) dropping only two spots to No. 5 after its double-overtime loss to the Buckeyes Saturday, it appears the Wolverines are not out of the running.
The four-team playoff field is to be revealed at 11 a.m. Sunday.
“If Washington loses and Alabama wins and Clemson wins,” analyst Kirk Herbstreit said during ESPN’s show Tuesday, “my opinion, Michigan goes to No. 4.”
UW’s players have been asked repeatedly to assess their chances to qualify for the playoffs and if the Big Ten champion deserves a spot in the field.
“I don’t know,” redshirt senior tailback Dare Ogunbowale said. “You should ask those guys on ESPN. I don’t get paid enough to answer that question.”
Ogunbowale was asked how the players view the Big Ten title game against Penn State. He paused smiled and made his point concisely. “We view it as a championship game,” he said. “That is even bigger than a playoff game. Playoffs are to get to a championship.
“This is the Big Ten championship. That is what we see it as. We want to make sure we go out and win.”
UW is making its fourth appearance in the league title game, which was first held in 2011. The Badgers are 2-1, with victories over Michigan State in 2011 and Nebraska in 2012 and a loss to Ohio State in 2014.
A convincing victory over Penn State could help UW secure a playoff berth, especially since Penn State was the only Big Ten team to beat Ohio State this season. If UW is left out of the four-team field, a victory over the Nittany Lions likely would send UW to the Rose Bowl.
UW has been in playoff mode, with a Big Ten West Division title the No. 1 goal, since an overtime loss to Ohio State on Oct. 15. That loss left UW 1-2 in the Big Ten and 4-2 overall. UW has won six consecutive games since that loss.
“That has been our thing the whole season,” senior safety Leo Musso said. “If we would have been listening to the outside world we’d be a 6-6 team this year. We’re just focused on Penn State and winning the Big Ten championship.”
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF RANKINGS W-L 1. Alabama 12-0 2. Ohio State 11-1 3. Clemson 11-1 4. Washington 11-1 5. Michigan 10-2 6. Wisconsin 10-2 7. Penn State 10-2 8. Colorado 10-2 9. Oklahoma 9-2 10. Oklahoma State 9-2 11. Southern Cal 9-3 12. Florida State 9-3 13. Louisville 9-3 14. Auburn 8-4 15. Florida 8-3 16. West Virginia 9-2 17. Western Michigan 12-0 18. Stanford 9-3 19. Navy 9-2 20. Utah 8-4 21. LSU 7-4 22. Tennessee 8-4 23. Virginia Tech 9-3 24. Houston 9-3 25. Pittsburgh 8-4
The College Football Playoff Selection Committee will issue weekly rankings each Tuesday, with the final rankings being announced Sunday, Dec. 4 (Noon EST). The playoff semifinals will match the No. 1 seed vs. the No. 4 seed, and No. 2 will face No. 3. The semifinals will be hosted at the Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl on Dec. 31, 2016. The championship game will be played on Jan. 9, 2017 at Tampa, Fla.