Montana
Transcendent Waded Cruzado grateful, nostalgic entering final Cat-Griz game as Montana State president
BILLINGS — Emotions were high as Montana State prepared to leave team headquarters for Toyota Stadium on the morning of the 2021 FCS national championship game in Frisco, Texas.
Waded Cruzado, the much-revered president of the university and a preeminent champion for unprecedented growth and development at Montana’s land-grant institution, couldn’t help but be swept up in it all.
Montana State University
“I was the last person to leave the hotel,” Cruzado recalled during a recent video call with MTN Sports from her office at Montana Hall. “When I got to the lobby and the doors opened, there was head coach Brent Vigen. And tears came to my eyes.
“Everybody was so happy and so proud and everybody was rooting for the Bobcats.”
It’s a subtle anecdote, but it serves as a symbol for all the things Cruzado has tried to instill on the MSU campus since becoming president in January 2010 — pride, passion, identity and belonging.
And Montana State athletics has been one of the greatest beneficiaries.
The Bobcats didn’t win that championship game in 2021, but the fact that they were there underscored how far they’d come. It had been 37 years since the football program had advanced that far, and there were times in the late 1980s and certainly the 1990s that suggested it might never happen again.
It takes talented players, dedicated coaches and forward-thinking administrators to achieve sustained success. It also takes a president that has bought in. Cruzado has been that in spades. But now she’s on her way out.
Cruzado announced her retirement in August, effective next summer. As she gets ready to watch the annual Cat-Griz rivalry for the 15th and final time as MSU president, nostalgia can be added to a thorough list of emotions she’s feeling.
“After my appointment … it became evident to me that Cat-Griz was a very important event in the life of both universities,” Cruzado said. “I could feel the passion. I could feel the rivalry, which was far more intense than what I had (seen) at my previous institutions. Every year it’s a great cause for celebration and anticipation.
“Even when I have been in Missoula, fans have been so kind to me, so nice to me. And I really appreciated that.”
That doesn’t mean Cruzado didn’t want her Bobcats to kick the Grizzlies’ butts.
Montana State University
Cruzado has without question lifted Montana State’s academic profile and points out that the university has more research expenditure dollars on an annual basis than all the other public and private universities in the state combined.
But her impact on MSU athletics cannot be overstated.
Ninth-year athletic director Leon Costello said Cruzado’s support “completely exceeded my expectations. It was unlike anything that I’d ever been a part of.”
Diminutive in stature, Cruzado bursts with immeasurable love for the university. She’s channeled that into doing whatever it takes to raise the bar for an athletic department that seemed to be stuck in neutral in terms of fundraising and infrastructure for several years prior to her arrival in Bozeman.
On the whole, as everyone knows, football — the opiate of the masses — is the primary driver of revenue in Division I sports. But how did a native of Puerto Rico, who had no relationship with American football in her youth, come to realize its importance?
“Baseball in Puerto Rico is sacred. Just need to say one name — Roberto Clemente,” Cruzado offered. “So I grew up watching a lot of baseball. When I turned 13, 14 years old, I became (a fan) of men’s basketball, and Puerto Rico had a very decent national team. So there is a lot of enthusiasm for sports in Puerto Rico.
“In my adulthood, of course, I was in the U.S., and you cannot escape football, the allure and what it brings. And in the state of Montana, football speaks for our culture. It’s a very important thing for us. I was blown away to see how long people will drive in the state just to join us for a game.”
Early in her tenure, Cruzado saw the improvements that had to be made to Bobcat Stadium. She noticed fans leaving during games, especially students. There had to be a transformation.
It began with the south end zone project in 2010, an undertaking Cruzado spearheaded with a fundraising challenge to the Bobcat Quarterback Club that ultimately collected $11 million.
The Sonny Holland end zone, completed in time for the 2011 season, bowled in the south side of the facility and was the proverbial jolt the department needed to achieve future goals.
Montana State University
In the years since, the stadium has added lights, and it now boasts an $18 million athletic complex and a state-of-the-art 30-by-100-foot Daktronics scoreboard on the north end.
MSU has also upgraded its track and field facility, made improvements to Worthington Arena and Brick Breeden Fieldhouse, and is now erecting a $26.5 million indoor practice facility to benefit all programs, not just football.
For everything that’s happened at MSU on Cruzado’s watch — the 33% growth in enrollment, the 133% increase in research dollars, the more than $600 million in construction projects on campus, etc. — her backing of athletics is immense.
Montana State fell behind rival Montana in athletics in the ‘80s and ‘90s. But that gap doesn’t exist anymore. And students are no longer walking out of the stadium prematurely.
“She’s done nothing but support our vision — my vision — even when maybe we had differing opinions,” said Costello, whose own exuberance has given the Bobcats a certain dynamic they seemed to lack in years prior. “That partnership is the benefit that you now see in Bobcat athletics.”
Bill Lamberty, MSU’s assistant AD for communications, has been with the department since 1990. He’s had a front-row seat to the transfiguration.
“The easiest ways to gauge president Cruzado’s impact on Bobcat athletics are to look at an aerial overlay comparing the athletic physical plant of today to 2009, and to compare our across-the-board success in competition in that time,” Lamberty said. “Those areas are both vastly superior today to when president Cruzado arrived.
“Positive energy, Bobcat spirit, and commitment to supporting MSU students are the cost of admission to being part of the Montana State community, and it all starts with president Cruzado. She’s a transformative person, and her presidency has transformed Bobcat athletics.”
As far as the on-field rivalry with Montana, the Bobcats are on much better footing than they were not that long ago. The series is even at 10-10 since the Grizzlies’ 16-game winning streak was halted in 2002.
Cruzado even made mention of “The Streak” when talking about all this growth, saying she noticed upon her arrival that it still pained fans and boosters — even though it ended eight years prior to her appointment.
Montana State University
When she met with the Quarterback Club in June 2010, Cruzado said she “let them vent. At the end I said, ‘I hear your passion. I know that you care about this place. But as far as I’m concerned that’s in the past, and I would love for us to turn the page. I want to focus on the future.’”
Thus, athletic growth became one of her top priorities.
Saturday’s Cat-Griz game is the 123rd all-time and the 15th of Cruzado’s tenure. It will be her last as president. Her No. 2-ranked Bobcats, trying to complete the program’s first 12-0 regular season, were 17-point favorites on Tuesday.
They’re one of the favorites to make it back to Texas for this year’s national title game, especially if they secure home-field advantage with a top-two seed.
Cruzado, for one, would love to go back to experience more tear-inducing moments, to perhaps see MSU’s first football title in 40 years.
But her legacy will be greater than that.
“When the university speaks about excellence, it has to be excellence in every realm,” Cruzado said. “And (our) new facilities speak to that excellence. But the most important thing at Montana State cannot be those buildings. It has to be the people.”
“What I will feel very, very proud of is that we were able to expand that tent. Athletics is a very big tent, and everybody’s welcome,” she added. “I hope that I have been able to add a little bit of, you know, my grain of salt, to instill that sense of identity, of belonging and passion about being a Bobcat.”
MISSOULA — Four out of five members of Montana’s Public Service Commission were in a federal courtroom in Missoula Thursday morning, as the PSC’s former president challenges the disciplinary action taken against him earlier this year. Now, newly released documents are shedding more light on to what led up to this point.
(Watch the video for a closer look at the case.)
New documents shed light Montana PSC dispute
Commissioner Brad Molnar has sued President Jeff Welborn, Vice President Jennifer Fielder and Commissioner Annie Bukacek – the three PSC members who voted in May to require him to work remotely, after an investigation into complaints about his workplace conduct. Molnar has claimed he is being unfairly punished for constitutionally protected speech, and he asked Senior U.S District Judge Donald Molloy to allow him to return to the PSC offices.
Matthew Monforton, Molnar’s attorney, told the judge that barring Molnar from the building was limiting his ability to do his job.
“He has not been officially kicked out of office, but his voice has clearly been diminished,” said Monforton.
But Natasha Jones, an attorney representing the other three commissioners, said the findings were about behavior, not just speech, and that the PSC’s action was a reasonable response.
“These are serious concerns about a pattern of conduct that has made employees quit,” she said.
Jonathon Ambarian
On Tuesday, Molloy ordered the release of redacted versions of two full investigative reports into Molnar’s conduct – more than 100 pages of documents. Monforton had moved for the full reports to be made public, and Molloy ruled attorneys for the other PSC members hadn’t shown a compelling reason to keep the documents under seal as long as the names of people involved in the investigation were obscured.
While the names remained redacted in the investigation reports, the attorneys for Welborn, Fielder and Bukacek also filed additional documents – including a public declaration from Bukacek and from former PSC executive director Alana Lake, providing information about their allegations against Molnar.
The two reports, from an outside investigator, cover Molnar’s alleged actions over two periods: the first from February to August 2025, and the second from August to October 2025. The investigation began after the first formal complaint, filed by Bukacek in May 2025 – though the reports say employees had been bringing up concerns about Molnar’s behavior informally for several months prior.
Bukacek’s complaint claimed Molnar had repeatedly made what she called “sexualized and demeaning comments.” The examples she cited included saying the PSC should replace “Taco Tuesdays” with “Topless Tuesdays,” reminiscing about watching girls in bikinis as a teenager, and commenting about the beauty of women in areas of China who didn’t get “old and wrinkly.”
In her declaration, Bukacek also claimed Molnar had “maliciously disseminated false information” about her and “engaged in behavior that was dismissive, derisive and otherwise abusive.”
“My primary concern now is not for my safety nor my feelings, but for the rest of the staff who may not have the temperament to speak up or may feel too intimidated to speak up given concerns over job security,” Bukacek said in her declaration.
MTN News
The investigators determined Molnar had violated the PSC’s code of conduct by making comments of a sexual nature, and that it appeared his behavior had continued for some time after he was warned about it. They also found he had behaved unprofessionally and in a belittling manner toward Bukacek, though they said Bukacek herself had at times used “language that could be considered inappropriate” in emails to staff or other commissioners. Bukacek told MTN she “readily self corrected” any behaviors that were brought to her attention.
The investigation also found a violation in connection with a complaint from a PSC staff member, who said he “felt bullied” by Molnar when the commissioner sent an email complaining about his team not being “people with competence.”
However, much of the first report and the entire second report was focused on conduct after the initial complaints, when Molnar was accused of retaliating against people who participated in the investigation. Lake said in her declaration that she saw “an immediate and significant change in his behavior toward staff involved in the process.” She claimed he said he would use an attorney and private investigator to go after people who filed complaints, and she accused him of publicly criticizing her in interviews and removing her job responsibilities because of her handling of the investigation.
Lake said Molnar’s actions led to “declining morale within the agency,” undermined staff members’ ability to do their jobs and damaged her reputation. She said that led her to resign as executive director.
“I believe no employee should be forced to choose between reporting misconduct and protecting their career, reputation, or personal well-being,” she said in her declaration.
Lake has since become Helena city manager.
Jonathon Ambarian
The report said there was evidence to show Molnar had retaliated, including by “making disparaging statements about investigation participants” including Lake, by sending an email warning he could file complaints of his own against people involved, and by taking other actions investigators said could dissuade employees from reporting behavior in the future.
Monforton said during Thursday’s hearing that the initial comments Bukacek complained about were jokes Molnar had admitted were inappropriate, that he regretted saying them, and that he hasn’t made any similar comments in about a year. But he argued the vast majority of the findings against Molnar were about retaliation – and that those were primarily based on speech that the other commissioners don’t have the right to interfere with.
Monforton said it’s unreasonable to punish Molnar for what he said in the July news conference where he announced he was under investigation, in interviews with the media or in commission meetings. He said Molnar’s conduct doesn’t rise to the level of actual retaliation.
“This is an elected official, engaging in speech in his forum,” Monforton said.
He said Molnar may have made harsh comments toward staff, but that he had the right to raise objections about the way the agency does business.
Jonathon Ambarian
Monforton also argued the retaliation claims no longer justify keeping Molnar out of the office, since Welborn, Fielder and Bukacek voted to remove him as president in October and he no longer has the authority he’s accused of misusing. He said there haven’t been further complaints about his behavior since that time.
“We’re not asking for the moon and stars, we’re asking for the status quo as it existed for the last seven months,” he said.
Jones said there is enough evidence to show Molnar would have been punished regardless of whether any protected speech was excluded.
“This is not about a couple of jokes,” she said.
Jones said Molnar made maliciously false statements about people like Lake, and that type of statement isn’t covered by free speech protections.
She also said Molnar’s exclusion from the PSC offices is temporary, and that the PSC will reconsider whether to let him return if he apologizes for his actions, accepts the agency’s code of conduct and undergoes training.
Molloy indicated he saw indications that there was “acrimony” on both sides of the situation, and said he was skeptical it would be resolved easily.
“It would be nice if instead of juvenile behavior, there was professional behavior,” he said.
However, the judge said there was an avenue for Molnar to pursue if he wanted to reach a resolution.
Molloy took no immediate action Thursday. He told the parties he would rule as quickly as he could.
Carrie Gilbertson has been executive director of Cancer Support Community Montana for just under two months, stepping into the role in April with more than 15 years of nonprofit experience and a lifetime of Montana roots.
The organization provides psychosocial and mental health support to anyone affected by cancer — not just those with a diagnosis, but also family members and others walking alongside them.
WATCH: Meet the new leader of Cancer Support Community Montana 🎗️
Cancer Support Community Montana names new executive director
“This mission of providing psycho-social supports and mental health supports for anyone impacted by cancer, not just that person who has the diagnosis, but also family members, anyone who is walking alongside someone as they experience that often scary diagnosis, that’s just something that’s important to me,” Gilbertson said.
Gilbertson’s role extends beyond the Bozeman office. Cancer Support Community Montana’s Missoula location is already up and running, and a Helena location is expected to be operating soon. Each presents its own set of challenges.
“Each hospital is different. They might have different resources. Their social workers might be connecting to things in a different way. So understanding what those hospitals need, what different participants need in each community, is going to be different just because the communities are different, resources are different,” Gilbertson said.
The Bozeman office has been operating for more than 20 years, providing a foundation that supports the organization’s broader statewide efforts.
“I think this is a crew that looks at what does this community need what do our participants need what are some of the changing landscapes in cancer care what things are the gaps that we see that we can maybe just jump right in and you know let’s see if we can provide that for people so that’s something I really love about this crew that I work with and just this mission that there is some flexibility in being able to adjust and adapt as we learn more,” Gilbertson said.
Those adaptations show up in unexpected ways. The organization converts its parking lot into a pickleball court every Friday morning.
“I didn’t know there was a pickleball court. I pulled in actually with my daughter pulled in and she was is that pickleball court and I was like oh, it kind of looks like it is so yeah that’s fun, every Friday morning we clear out the parking lot and put up the net and I haven’t played yet I’ve been watching just to kind of see how that game works but they take it pretty seriously,” Gilbertson said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
-
Pennsylvania4 minutes agoPA Beef Trail launched at 2 Berks County restaurants
-
Rhode Island7 minutes agoSend-off ceremony held for Special Olympics Rhode Island athletes heading to USA Games
-
South-Carolina12 minutes agoSickle Cell Day gathers advocates at South Carolina State House
-
South Dakota19 minutes agoCommunities across South Dakota celebrate America 250 with fireworks, parades, and exhibits
-
Tennessee22 minutes agoShooting Hunger event aims to prevent childhood hunger in West Tennessee
-
Texas27 minutes agoNew screwworm portal aims to protect Texas livestock, wildlife and rural economy
-
Utah34 minutes agoUtah Athletics making Huntsman Center seating changes – KSL Sports
-
Vermont37 minutes agoNew owners of Vermont Packinghouse plan for local growth – The Vermont Journal & The Shopper
