Sam Kramer

Associate Director of Admissions Carly Schwieters is engaged with the student population at BSM.

While the staff in the Benilde-St. Margaret’s office is often overlooked, Associate Director of Admissions Carly Schwieters is well known across the BSM community. Schwieters joined the BSM community in the spring of 2022 and has had a major impact on those around her ever since her arrival.

Schwieters graduated from the University of Minnesota-Duluth in 2020 with two degrees in journalism and communication. Post graduation, Schwieters interned at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Her involvement in social media, writing, and videography for the university’s athletics department sparked a passion for her future in behind-the-scenes work. “It allowed me to be a storyteller behind the scenes both on game days and on regular office days, and I absolutely loved it,” Schwieters said.

Schwieters was hired for the Benilde-St. Margaret’s marketing team in March 2022. She was a fan of working behind the scenes at a school like BSM. Schwieters worked in the marketing department throughout the remainder of the 2021-2022 school year before transitioning to the admissions department at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year. “Being able to be in this environment at a school like BSM was really attractive to me… And now, you know, marketing was… the behind-the-scenes aspect of the school,” Schwieters said.

In the fall of 2022, Schwieters transitioned to the role of Associate Director of Admissions. She attributes her inspiration and love for the admissions department to Betsy Van Cleve, the Director of Admissions at BSM. Schwieters admires Van Cleve’s leadership in the admissions department. “She not only bleeds red and white, and has such a love for the school, we are the admissions team, our students are so well supported, all aspects of the school are well supported, that starts with her, which is awesome,” Schwieters said.

Van Cleve has enjoyed her time working with Schwieters and praises her as an essential piece to the admissions team and as an impactful person in the Benilde-St. Margaret’s community. “Ms. Schwieters has been an integral part of the admissions team. She is fantastic behind the scenes, but it’s been really great to see her shine in front-facing duties as well. She’s welcoming, she’s engaging, and she just really loves being part of the BSM community,” Van Cleve said.

Schwieter’s favorite tradition at BSM is the freshman gauntlet. The gauntlet takes place at freshman orientation on the first day of school and involves the incoming freshmen walking through a sea of teachers in the BSM Great Hall. “We welcome the freshmen in through the gauntlet when they graduate, and they walk through the gauntlet. It’s bookending their BSM experience, which [I think] is really special, and it’s special for [the admissions team], seeing these kids that we’ve welcomed into the building go off into the world,” Schwieters said.