Setting the Tone for Generosity: Couple Funds New Endowed Position

Keith ’67/’74 and Glynn ’67 Bartels have been in step with South Dakota State University and The Pride of the Dakotas for decades.

Now, they’re fueling a pivotal step forward for one of SDSU’s most treasured traditions. 

Since meeting as students, the couple has remained dialed in to the yellow and blue community. It’s difficult to say if their legacy rests more with their love of music or an unwavering loyalty to their alma mater. Both passions reached a crescendo with their latest gift: Funding the Keith and Glynn Bartels Endowed Director of Athletic Bands.  

Music has been a lifelong touchstone for each of them. Glynn, a Brookings native and daughter of SDSU plant science professor Lawrence Fine, took piano lessons on campus during high school and played flute in all-state band. It was a passion she’d carry through to orchestra, symphonic band, and The Pride when she enrolled at SDSU; she was even on field for The Pride’s milestone performance at a Minnesota Vikings game.  

Keith played trombone in high school, eventually restoring and donating his instrument to the SDSU School of Performing Arts. He joined The Statesmen as a freshman but left the ensemble his sophomore year to find a part-time job. He was hired as a projectionist at the movie theater, where Glynn also worked. The rest is Jackrabbit history. 

They credit SDSU for not only growing their love of music but providing them educations that shaped the rest of their lives. “We both came from families that highly valued education,” Keith reflects. “As a consequence, we highly value education. We were brought up that way.”

Keith earned a degree in economics, while Glynn pursued medical lab sciences. Keith joined the US Air Force, taking the couple on a whirlwind four years of service around the country. Thanks to her degree and skillset, Glynn was able to secure a position in every place they lived, finding work at hospitals and clinics in Mississippi, Massachusetts, Montana, and back in South Dakota. 

After his time in the Air Force, Keith returned to SDSU to earn a bachelor’s in his true professional passion: electrical engineering. As a graduate student, he worked for Daktronics during the company’s fledgling years, assembling some of the first scoreboards. At the time, Keith purchased Daktronics shares at a discount that would later help fund some of the couple’s gifts to SDSU. He went on to build a 40-year career as a registered professional engineer and principal at The Martin Group, Inc., an electrical engineering consulting firm in Mitchell, S.D.

Keith and Glynn lived in Mitchell for 50 years before migrating back to Brookings. The couple jokes that they wore out several cars on trips back to campus. 

Their daughters, Whitney '97 and Kristin '92, both graduated SDSU and played with The Pride – Kristin on the flute and piccolo while Whitney played clarinet. Kristin earned her degree in medical lab sciences, just like Glynn, while Whitney pursued journalism. During Whitney’s time in the band, she marched alongside Dr. Kevin Kessler, who will become the first holder of the endowed position funded by the couple.

Glynn and Keith remained season-ticket holders for basketball and football and continue to take in most every production of Prairie Repertory Theatre and Woodbine Productions events. Both have given back with time and service. Glynn was on the SDSU Foundation Board of Directors from 1995-2001; Keith then joined and served nearly 25 years over three terms on the Board of Governors. Keith also served on the Alumni Association’s Board of Directors and the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering. Keith will be recognized as an SDSU 2026 Distinguished Alumnus in October. 

Their generosity stretches from one side of campus to the other, including the Bartels Alumni Gallery in the Lohr Building, named classrooms in the Chicoine Architecture, Math and Engineering Building and Daktronics Engineering Hall, a remodel of the Dean of the Lohr College of Engineering’s office, sponsorships of travel opportunities for the Concert Choir, the music department office suite in the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center, and named endowed scholarships in medical lab sciences, engineering, and agronomy. 

When asked about their decision to endow the Director of Athletic Bands position, Glynn points to their goal to enhance the entire experience of the music program, impacting everything from facilities to resources to performances to faculty. She counts her time in The Pride as one of her favorite SDSU memories.

“Being in The Pride helps students feel a lot more like a part of the university,” Glynn says. “They feel connected and committed to SDSU.”

For Keith, his reason to fund the endowment is an emotional one. Over his many years of attending SDSU football games, his favorite tradition is a moment many viewers might miss: At the end of each game, win or lose, the football team joins arm in arm with one another on the field, singing along and swaying as The Pride performs “The Yellow and Blue” – or as Keith refers to it, “The Jackrabbit Hymn.” 

With the team and the band connecting through music and a shared love of the university, it’s a moment that never fails to give Keith goosebumps. The magic of that tradition is what moved him to truly see the impact of The Pride and the importance of the group’s leadership. Endowed funding is a key player in ensuring moments like those continue in perpetuity.  

Through the influx of perpetual funding, endowed positions ensure that educators like Dr. Kessler can prioritize what the program needs most. That ranges from resources for student travel, conferences, equipment, and formative experiences for staff and students.

With a marching band, the director sets the tone for the entire group. With their gift, Keith and Glynn Bartels are helping to set a standard for SDSU, which now has commitments for 70 endowed positions.  

South Dakota State has been a constant drumbeat throughout Keith and Glynn’s lives, welcoming them back through every stage and milestone: a place for family and connection, for service and lifelong learning, for music and memory-making – a place made better because Keith and Glynn call it home.