MOORHEAD

Concordia College president

announces 2023 retirement

William Craft, president of Concordia College, announced that he will retire at the end of the term in the spring of 2023. Craft took office in 2011 as the 11th president of the Lutheran liberal arts school. Founded in 1891, Concordia has nearly 2,000 students enrolled.

Mary Ranum, chair of the college's Board of Regents, called Craft "an exemplary leader for our college. We express our deep gratitude to Dr. Craft for his invaluable, far-sighted contributions, which have positioned Concordia to thrive in the decades to come."

During his tenure, Craft spearheaded a wide range of initiatives, including a doubling of the college's endowment and construction of many new campus facilities, including an athletic center, a school of business, a science center and the Center for Student Success. He also was a key player in raising money to expand and strengthen the college's Sanford Heimarck School of Health Professions.

Craft was active off-campus as well, serving on bodies devoted to economic revitalization of the Fargo-Moorhead downtown areas. He has chaired the Presidents' Council for the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and also chaired the Association of American Colleges & Universities.

"Working in mission for this great college will always be the highest honor of my professional life," Craft said in a statement. "I am forever grateful for the opportunity to work alongside our remarkable students, faculty, staff and all who fulfill that mission to influence the affairs of the world. Anne [his wife] and I remain all-in for Concordia for the next 18 months, and every day after."

JOHN REINAN

STEARNS COUNTY

Grant will expand

trafficking task force

The Minnesota Office of Justice Programs awarded the Central Minnesota Human Trafficking Task Force a two-year $575,000 grant to continue and expand the task force, which investigates and prosecutes sex traffickers and provides services and support for adults and children being exploited in Stearns County and central Minnesota.

Since the task force's inception in 2018, it has investigated more than 100 cases, charged 44 felonies and provided support to nearly 240 victims, according to the Stearns County Sheriff's Office.

The task force is made up of Waite Park and St. Cloud police investigators, as well as members of the Sheriff's Office and County Attorney's Office. It partners with area law enforcement agencies, the Central Minnesota Sexual Assault Center, St. Cloud school district and multiple nonprofits.

The initial $313,000 grant, awarded in 2017, allowed a year-old sex trafficking task force to convert to a full-time operation in early 2018.

JENNY BERG