Mount Marty SGA Collaborates with Ideas Flow Here: Yankton 2045 on Yankton Needs

On Monday, November 18, the Mount Marty University Student Government Association (SGA) met with Ideas Flow Here: Yankton 2045 to discuss what Mount Marty students think Yankton may need. 

Ideas Flow Here: Yankton 2045 is a comprehensive plan that provides guidance to officials on how to create the best future for the Yankton community over the next 20 years. Maya Struhar from RDG Planning & Design is a planner for the Comprehensive Plan. Struhar said, "Resident involvement is a major piece of any comprehensive plan – a successful plan is identified not just with the elected and appointed officials of the city who adopt it, but with the entire community who will help draft it and want to see it followed, maintained, and implemented. ... It is our hope to hear from as many residents as possible throughout the process so the end product is a plan of the people."

Struhar and the planning team have met with Yankton area teachers, business owners, immigrants, major employers and SGA. Struhar said, "College and university students often bring unique perspectives on their communities. We are wanting to hear first-hand from Mount Marty students on what they want and need from the community, what they enjoy about Yankton or what they would improve or change. All of these things help inform us, as the planning team, on what we can include in the comprehensive plan to create a better future for everyone in Yankton."

The group discussed favorite spots in Yankton, things the community may be missing, housing and transportation from the perspective of the student body. Trey Vande Kop '25, president of SGA, said, "It was great having the opportunity to express our positive thoughts of the Yankton community and to suggest areas of improvement. Having been able to share what draws college students to Mount Marty with all that is offered in Yankton brought up the strengths of the community and ideas of what could be brought to Yankton in the future. Hearing that the Ideas Flow Here committee wanted to meet with SGA and by wondering what would draw students to get more engagement throughout the community shows how important the students are to the Yankton community." 

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About Mount Marty University

Founded in 1936 by the Benedictine Sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery, Mount Marty University is South Dakota's only Catholic institution of higher education. Located along the bluffs of the Missouri River in Yankton, with additional locations in Watertown and Sioux Falls, Mount Marty offers undergraduate and graduate degrees focusing on student and alumni success in high-demand fields such as health sciences, education, criminal justice, business, accounting, and more. A community of learners in the Benedictine tradition, Mount Marty emphasizes academic excellence and develops well-rounded students with intellectual competence, professional and personal skills and moral, spiritual and social values. To learn more, visit mountmarty.edu.