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Medallion marks new era
 Media Credit: Christine Johnson/Editor President Roy Saigo will wear SCSU�s new medallion next month during commencement ceremonies. Retired SCSU professor Jim Roy created the medallion to incorporate the university�s new seal.
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President Roy Saigo has a new symbol to represent SCSU � one he can wear.
Saigo recently received SCSU's new medallion, which he will wear at official ceremonies as a symbol of the university. Jim Roy, expert jeweler and retired SCSU faculty member, designed and crafted the medallion.
The president has a medallion for the sake of tradition, said Lisa Helmin Foss, director of marketing and communications at SCSU. It is traditional for university presidents across the country to have a medallion. In the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system, each university president has a medallion, as does the MnSCU chancellor.
"It signifies the position of being the president," Foss said.
Roy also made SCSU's first medallion in the 1960s. Roy then specialized in teaching jewelry making. He was the chair of the department of visual arts (before it became the art department) for almost 30 years before he retired in 1994.
When SCSU redesigned its official seal last year, a new medallion was needed to incorporate the new seal, Foss said. The university talked to Roy in November about creating the medallion.
"I felt very honored," Roy said. "I have some really good feelings about St. Cloud State University."
Roy made the medallion out of sterling silver over the course of two months.
"The sterling silver has been rhodium-plated to keep it nice and clean and bright," he said. Roy said he had to hammer the silver into shape, and he fastened it together with soldering. "It's not complicated, but it's a long process," Roy added.
In the medallion's center is SCSU's seal, cast in 14 karat gold. There are also four red garnet stones, one on each side of the seal. The finished product is about 5 inches in diameter, and hangs from a sterling silver chain. Foss estimated that it will cost about $1,000, mostly material cost. The university is seeking private funding to pay for the medallion, she said.
Foss said Saigo would wear the medallion for the first time at commencement next month. It will be worn at all future commencements, and Saigo will wear the medallion if he is invited to another university's commencement.
"He wears it only at very official ceremonies," Foss said, adding that this amounted to just a few times a year at most. When Saigo is not wearing the medallion, it will be stored in a glass case, mounted on the wall of his office.
The old medallion has been sent to university archives.
"It will be stored in archives as a historical piece of the university's history," Foss said.
Roy, who does a lot of commission work as a jeweler, has done several other medallions for different universities including the College of Saint Benedict, Metropolitan State University in the Twin Cities and Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa. He said he was pleased with the way SCSU's medallion turned out.
"I liked it," Roy said. "I think it really summarizes my feelings about the university. It's a beautiful university, I love it, I loved my 30 years there and I think they should have a beautiful medallion."
Eric O'Link can be reached at: [email protected]
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