A St. Cloud-area technical and community college will get a student-support center, thanks to a $2 million challenge donation.

The St. Cloud Technical & Community College Foundation launched the campaign Wednesday and announced the J.A. Wedum Center for Student Success.

Along with the center, to be housed in an existing building, the college has a “comprehensive plan for student success to enhance first-generation retention and completion,” it said in a news release. It states “student accountability, intensive advising, and connected services increase student retention rates” for those first-generation students.

The college, founded in 1948, serves 2,800 first-generation students, which his more than half its population, the release said. “With the college serving such a large segment of first-generation students, their success is critical to the future of central Minnesota,” it said. The college has 75 program options that align with the type of jobs available in central and greater Minnesota.

An employee who was riding the trailer when Xander was run over said he felt a bump and jumped off, where he found the boy lying on the ground with severe head trauma. He told investigators the part of the trailer where actors stood could be slippery, and said he previously suggested treads and lighting to improve safety.

In Minnesota, “agritourism” has little oversight, with entrepreneurs often having to establish their own safety measures as they welcome families to their properties. State law grants “agritourism” businesses immunity from liability due to the inherent risks present in environments with farm animals and machinery. Exceptions to the law include negligence or willful or wanton disregard for safety, knowledge of dangerous conditions on the land and intentional injuries.

Xander was an eighth-grader at Sauk Rapids-Rice Middle School, where he participated in band, choir, robotics and soccer, according to his obituary, which states he was “kind, very polite, unique, creative, investigative, and saw the good in everyone.”

According to prosecutors:

Around 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 13, 2022, Nunn approached a woman in Arden Hills who had just parked her vehicle outside her workplace. Brandishing a handgun and while masked, Nunn forced her to drive him to an ATM in Minneapolis and withdraw cash so he could pay his rent. He then ordered the victim to drive to Matthews Park in the city’s Seward Neighborhood, where he drove away in her vehicle.

Surveillance videos from surrounding businesses showed Nunn exiting the vehicle, removing his hood and mask, and entering a corner grocery store. Four days later, he returned to the store in a vehicle registered in his name and address. That led to his arrest on Sept. 22, 2022.

A search of Nunn’s residence turned up evidence from the kidnapping and revealed Nunn that had stolen a backpack from Twin Cities Orthopedics in Oak Park Heights and used the owner’s debit card and personal identification at various local retailers.

He also robbed a third person at gunpoint in a Target parking lot in Hudson, Wis., and threatened to kill her if she didn’t hand over her purse. He then used her credit cards to siphon money from bank accounts.