Bemidji State gets $8.1 million gift, renames college for alumnus

Bemidji State University is turning an $8.1 million estate gift into scholarships, upgraded learning technology and a larger pipeline to employers across northern Minnesota, a far bigger payoff than a new name on a college.

The bequest from alumnus R. Allen Sunderman is the largest testamentary contribution in BSU’s 107-year history, and it renamed the College of Creativity, Enterprise and Place as the Sunderman College of Creativity, Enterprise and Place. University leaders said the money will create endowments, new student scholarship funds and an innovation fund designed to support regional partnerships.

BSU also said the gift will help establish a new Office of Sponsored Programs, a regional innovation fund and a technology advancement fund. Those investments are aimed at students in information-technology-related majors, students transferring from two-year partner colleges and engineering students who need stronger industry connections. The college itself spans 34 majors and 28 minors, with schools of Business, Education, Music, Humanities and Technology, Art & Design under its umbrella.

President John L. Hoffman said the announcement is not simply about “a new name for a building,” but about scholarships, innovation hubs and the technology students need to lead. He said the gift will help prepare the first graduates from the newly named college, with BSU’s 107th commencement set for May 8 at the Sanford Center and the College of Creativity, Enterprise and Place ceremony scheduled for 10 a.m.

The money also arrives as BSU’s For the North campaign has surged well past its public goal. The three-year effort launched publicly on Aug. 5, 2025, with a $25 million target after a silent phase that had already raised more than $19 million since July 1, 2023. After the Sunderman estate gift, the campaign stood at $32.6 million from more than 3,600 donors.

Sunderman’s own path traces back to Bemidji. He was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, in 1948, served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam conflict and graduated from Bemidji State in 1975 with a degree in business administration before building a career in real estate. He died of cancer in 2019 at age 71.

The estate had already given $100,000 to create the Sunderman Technology Fund for the same college. For Bemidji, Beltrami County and employers across the region, the larger gift could shape who can afford to enroll, what technology students use and how quickly BSU can connect graduates to the local workforce.