Student Success Center director receives Augie Pride Award

She still remembers standing in her family’s kitchen and receiving a call from an Augustana admissions counselor. He told her she had been accepted into the college's class of 1990 and was receiving an English and journalism scholarship. 

Now, the experience is a core memory Mary Toso thinks back on fondly.

On April 17, Toso formed another core memory with Augustana: receiving the Augie Pride Award at the annual Service Awards and Retirement Recognition Ceremony.

Toso, the director of the Student Success Center, is the 32nd person to receive the award, which is given annually to an employee who goes “above and beyond the call of duty.” 

“It is an award that recognizes people who are giving all of themselves to Augustana,” English professor Beth Boyens, and Toso’s close friend, said. “Like people who just go above and beyond and really work super hard to make life better for people.” 

University staff and faculty nominate employees for the award. This year, staff in the Student Success Center and Boyens, alongside two student testimonials, nominated Toso. According to career and academic planning specialist Sanna Strenge, she and CAP specialist Ann Kolbrek decided to nominate Toso for the 2024 award at the conclusion of the 2023 service awards. 

“I was surprised that she had never won it before,” Strenge said. “I thought for sure she would have already been a recipient, and I think we started a shared Google sheet on things we wanted to talk about Mary in January of this year and started meeting.” 

Toso said she was unsuspecting of the award that awaited her that afternoon.

“I always look forward to the service awards,” Toso said. “It’s a fun way for us to wrap up the year in many ways.” 

Strenge said she knew Toso was unaware she would receive the award as soon as she saw Toso in a pair of pink pants that morning. 

“If she had suspected it, she would have been in Augie colors,” Strenge said. “And she has been since she won.”  

Toso said she didn’t know she was receiving the award until President Stephanie Herseth Sandlin started to present it, talking about an individual who had worked with students and alumni and graced campus with her knowledge of cover letters and resumes. 

“I was like, ‘Oh, this is someone from our office. Oh, I think she’s talking about me,’” Toso said. 

CAP specialist Wendy Mamer said Toso being unsuspecting shows her love for Augustana.

“She didn’t even suspect half way through the speech,” Mamer said. “She just so genuinely loves this place and doesn’t do it for anything. She was just excited. She doesn’t do it for accolades. It’s in her blood.” 

Toso’s family was there to celebrate alongside her, which her daughter Elizabeth Toso — a junior math and data science major — said was special for her mother, as it can be tricky to get the family all together. The Tosos turned off their locations on their phones and parked on the other side of campus to keep the award winner surprised.

“I just have this specific memory of my mom crying, hugging President Stephanie, and she looked so happy,” Elizabeth Toso said. “I was obviously emotional too, but my mom with her wet cheeks from happy crying and hugging President Stephanie, looking at me and my sister and my dad, and then she hugged me and my sister, like a big bear hug.”

Toso’s relationship with Augustana began long before she became the director of the Student Success Center in fall 2023. 

In seventh grade, Mary Toso began taking flute lessons from Pat Masek, a studio instructor of music at Augustana. She also regularly attended one of the Augustana music department’s summer band programs and even participated in the Argus Leader spelling bee on campus in eighth grade. 

During her undergraduate career at Augustana, Toso majored in English and journalism and became involved in a number of clubs and activities on campus. She was a resident advisor as a sophomore, the editor of the Mirror as a senior, a New Student Orientation co-chair with Boyens and a Viking Days co-chair with Boyens, in addition to being active in a women’s honor society. 

When Toso began to realize she wanted to pursue a job in higher education, she tacked on a year of service to the Augustana Student Association, too. 

“Somewhere along the way I figured out that people who work here, this is their career in higher education,” Toso said. 

Former Dean of Students Jim Bies was Toso’s mentor and helped her find a graduate program at Loyola University Chicago, where she graduated in 1992 with a master’s degree in college student personnel. 

Toso and her husband then moved to Sioux City, Iowa, to start raising a family. When the director of student activities position opened at Augustana in 2000, Toso knew she had to apply. The job focused on just what she wanted to do in higher education, student affairs and student activities, which she had loved, in part for the experiences she had as a student. 

“I just knew [Augustana] was the place,” Toso said. “When I left here, I knew my goal was to come back and work here. That’s what I wanted.” 

Toso served as the director of student activities at Augustana until 2005, when she became the director of alumni engagement. In 2016, she went to the Student Success Center, where she worked as the director of internships. Last fall, she stepped into her current role as director.

Many of Toso’s students, friends and family have said Toso is deserving of the award. Boyens, who has known Toso since she was 15, said Toso “bleeds blue and gold,” which Toso’s blue and gold glasses and Augustana cardigan demonstrate on most Friday afternoons.

“She loves this place,” Boyens said. “She believes in this place, and she has represented this place really well in a lot of different ways. Every time I hear her speak about Augustana, she’s just a really articulate champion for what we do here and what it’s about.” 

Senior Eden Weber, who has Toso as a CAP specialist, said she is the “perfect person” for the Augie Pride Award. 

“She has this great appreciation for this place and just people in general and just strives for excellence,” Weber said. “She wants to do things the right way and believes that everyone can do that, too.” 

Elizabeth Toso said her mom truly values the people and students at Augustana. 

“She just has never really wavered in her commitment to the university,” Elizabeth Toso said. “It’s so overwhelmingly amazing that other people see that and want to show her that they care. I’m just so happy for her.” 

Since receiving the award, Toso said she has felt an “overwhelming sense of gratitude,” especially to be a recipient among past winners like Registrar Joni Krueger, Vice President for Enrollment Nancy Davidson and Director of Recreational Services Mark Hecht. 

“We’ve all been here for a really long time and just to know their dedication and service to this place and to think that someone thought of me in the same way that I think of all those people was just humbling,” Toso said. 

For members of the Student Success Center, Toso’s contributions and service to Augustana meant she more than belonged among the group of past recipients. 

“She just balances professionalism and compassion and friendship better than anyone I’ve ever met, because she will never sacrifice the expectations she has of us for anything,” Mamer said. “But at the same time, at the end of the day, all she wants is for us to be okay and cared for too.”

Strenge said many community members consider Toso a facet of Augustana.

“I think there’s so many people that — when they think of Augustana and their experience, whether it’s as a student or as a coworker, personally and professionally — think of Mary in some capacity,” Strenge said. “I did as a student, and I for sure do now as a staff member.”