About the Sturzl Center

Our Vision

St. Norbert College and its students will be full partners with the Brown County community in the work to promote the common good and to create communio. Through their experiences, St. Norbert College students commit to lifelong service.

Our Mission

The Sturzl Center for Community Service and Learning seeks to deepen the experience of communio by:

  • Supporting members of the college in their service efforts
  • Promoting transformative student learning
  • Addressing real community needs
  • Building relationships of mutuality
  • Working for the common good

Our commitment to communio is inspired by our Catholic, liberal arts, and Norbertine traditions.

Our Goals

The Sturzl Center for Community Service and Learning will:
  • Serve as a resource to SNC students, faculty, staff, alumni and supporters interested in community service – particularly as it impacts student learning – by providing guidance, best practice tools, occasions for reflection and access to opportunities for community engagement.
  • Strengthen relationships with Brown County partners working for the common good, making available college resources to support those efforts.
  • Develop the college’s capacity to serve the common good by fostering campus-wide discussion on service; promoting community engagement; assessing the progress of the work of the center; and recognizing significant college contributions to serving the common good in Brown County and beyond.

Sturzl Center for Community Service and Learning Endowment

The Sturzl Center for Community Service and Learning was named in 2012 by an endowed gift made in honor of Ed Sturzl ’71 and Ann Sturzl ’72 and dedicated on April 2, 2012. The endowment was made possible through the generosity of Sargento Foods and members of the Gentine family, owners of Sargento Foods Inc. Through the naming gift, the donors sought to honor Ed and Ann Sturzl for their lifetime commitment to service.

Ed and Ann Sturzl have a history of service to St. Norbert College, as well as to organizations in their Plymouth, Wis., community. Ed, former senior vice president/HR at Sargento Foods Inc., is a 1971 graduate of St. Norbert College. Ann, a 1972 graduate of the college, is also a member of the Gentine family. Ed has served as a trustee of St. Norbert since 1995. The couple’s involvement in community activities extends through church and school district, community development and service organizations.

“The establishment of the Sturzl Center for Community Service and Learning Fund is in keeping with our philosophies of encouraging community involvement and providing foundations to improve the life condition of people in need,” said Lou Gentine, chairman and CEO of Sargento Foods. “We appreciate St. Norbert’s recognition of the importance of these types of community outreaches and the long-term benefits of ingraining this attitude in graduates of the school. We hope our contribution and future contributions of others will sustain and enhance this initiative.”