1981 Dakota Days Queen

Carla Thomsen graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1982 and was the 1981 Dakota Days Queen. She’s also a former Alpha Phi sorority member. Thomsen has daughters who attended the USD and are former members of Alpha Phi as well. She currently works full-time at Sanford and part-time at Scheels. Thomsen was a member of the Howling Pack and Alpha Phi board.

Originally, Thomsen was interested in attending a college in  Nebraska. Then, he planned to go to college with her girlfriend from Montana at USD. 

     “We landed at USD and loved it. She was dead set on being in a sorority. Her mom was in Alpha Phi so we went through rush,” Thomsen said. 

During her time at USD, she mentioned how the absence of cellphones played a significant role in the presence of students. In her first year of college, she lived at Brookman Hall, which is not a residence hall on campus anymore. She would spend her free time in the commons and her dorm. 

     Thomsen described how there were activities that students could participate in where they got to know a variety of people.

“They are the memories that everyone falls back to,” Thomsen said. She mentioned how one steady thing is the football games on Saturday where everybody gathered. For football games, she typically went to Carey’s because there wasn’t as much tailgating designed around the dome as there is currently. 

     Thomsen goes to D-Days every year. She mentioned how the Alpha Phi house would have house tours for alumni. She described her memories of being nominated by the Alpha Phi to represent the sorority. Thomsen described being nominated by her house as an “honor”. The pictures of those nominated for royalty would be hung up in the commons and everyone would vote all week long. Members of her sorority were promoting by putting up signs that read “vote for Carla.”

     “The most memorable part of that was friends and family traveling from Sioux Falls,” Thomsen said. She described how the nominated women would pick out a white dress for the event where they announced the winner for king and queen. On the Friday night before the game, the royalty was announced and crowned. 

     “I was so surprised. I did not realize I would even get it,” Thomsen said. At the football game on Saturday, everyone also went out on the field and announced the winners again.

     “I think coming together and being with friends and seeing family and loved ones rallying for me was just an honor,” Thomsen said. Looking back 45 years later, she is reminded that the biggest part for her is demonstrating to her children what college can be like and what life is like in Vermillion. 

     “Being homecoming queen was an honor, but there are so many other things to take away from that, which is leadership and all the kindness that goes into developing yourself and smiling along the way,” Thomsen said.