RAPID CITY, S.D. --- Senior Dejah Behrend came to the South Dakota Mines volleyball team as part of a big class, that helped to redefine and rebuild the volleyball program.
 
Behrend was a staple of the team's improvement in her time as a student-athlete and will leave her legacy on the program in multiple facets -- including her play and her race and ethnicity in the context of the program and institution.
 
Behrend is no stranger to unique circumstances, growing up in a large family mixed between biological and step relations, she moved from Michigan to Surprise, Arizona, at a young age (three). Like many kids and young people growing up, there were differences between her and the others, making it difficult to always to fit in.
 
"Growing up, you don't really understand why you're different, you just know that you are. It's one of those things where you just don't get it, and I remember when I was really, really little I would always say, 'like no, I'm white too', and my grandparents and my mom would say 'no, you need to embrace the fact that you are black and white,' and I would say, 'I don't understand,'" said Behrend. Behrend continued, "it didn't occur to me that my skin color was what it was, it wasn't about some personality, like it's something that's very confusing I think growing up and then I'm sitting there and I have different hair than the majority of my classmates and you know, I wanted to fit in, I wanted to be recognized as the same, and I didn't feel like I always was." Behrend added, "I didn't realize at the time that the reason I didn't like my hair was because it didn't look like everyone else's, the way I wanted to change my style or act like this or say these things was because I wanted to fit in, it was definitely a struggle to figure out and identify who I wanted to be." Behrend finished, "I felt like it was a lot of confusion going on, now that I'm getting older, I'm learning more but I definitely understood by the time I went to high school that it's just about finding your people, it's really not about what you look like."
 
At the time, the Hardrocker volleyball coaches and staff were impressed by Behrend once she showed up on campus.
 
"I remember Dejah's recruitment like it was yesterday," said Hardrocker volleyball head coach Lauren Torvi Prochazka. "We got her on campus and really fell in love with her character and passion for not only the game but being a woman in the STEM world and Dejah has always had that spark about her." Torvi Prochazka finished, "we saw how explosive and full of energy she was and anyone around her can feel how contagious it is."
 
Behrend was recruited in 2019 as part of the class that included: Anna Thomas, Kassie and Krissie Luce, Jacey Koethe, Victoria Zagorski, and Lily Bartling.
 
In the 2018 season prior to this group's arrival, the volleyball team won four matches --- just one in conference play.
 
Behrend made an impact along with Torvi Prochazka's first-full recruiting class instantly as a freshman and contributed to a large-team improvement, increasing the win total to 11 along with an 8-10 conference record. The group would eventually qualify for two RMAC Playoffs, setting numerous team records and milestones over the next four years.
 
Behrend was an essential piece of that. A big swinging middle explosive and full of energy is an infallible description. She was often visibly the most excited and energetic member of the team whether she was on the floor or on the sidelines, roaring and exhilarated with each point. Her energy was impossible to miss, even as a spectator, and was contagious and often energized not only her team but the fans as well. She holds a similar mindset off the court.
 
Perspective, defined as a mental view or outlook, is something that is not often found in today's society along with open-mindedness. People in today's world can be judgmental at times, but this is an area in which Behrend is wise, well beyond her years. Her perspective was shaped by her youth and has helped her keep an open mind and view people beyond the superficial.
 
"I always just kind of tried to put more emphasis on who I wanted to be and just embracing who I was at the moment. because I feel like a person's roots or background only say so much about a person. It tells you what they look like, where they come from, but most of who you are comes from the people that you surround yourself with, what you believe in and stuff like that. I took more emphasis on learning and trying to figure out what I believe in. I think that's also part of the reason why I'm huge on listening to other people's perspectives nowadays. I don't feel like I had the same experience as another female-black athlete that has gone to this school, and I don't feel like I had the same experience as a female-black student that went to my school in Arizona," said Behrend. "I don't believe I had the same experiences so I just kind of opened up and listened to what other people have gone through and what other people's beliefs are and kind of formed my own --  just based off what I go through and through experiences. It's kind of difficult when you don't really know, and you can't just be like I know this-and-that and I'm two percent that and you know, I just don't really put an emphasis on that."
 
As an institution, South Dakota Mines' 2021 enrollment was 2,493 made up of nearly 75 percent male compared to 25 female, with just 32 total African American students. Being in the minority is no stranger to Behrend. "Honestly, when I first joined the (volleyball) program, I had no idea. I did know that South Dakota Mines was a predominantly white institution, but I also kind of grew up like that in Arizona," said Behrend. "Most of the schools around there were PWI's, (predominantly white institutions). It's also just that was a separate life. Coming here, it wasn't much different, people were still just people."
 
When looking deeper into the numbers, Behrend becomes even more of a minority. In 2021-22 there were 21 African American student-athletes, but just two female African American athletes at South Dakota Mines. Behrend continues to become more and more unique and when Saturday, May 6, comes around, Behrend will walk across the stage at graduation with a chemical engineering degree, becoming the first-ever African American student-athlete to graduate from South Dakota Mines while being a member of the volleyball program, a program that began over 40 years ago.
 
Torvi Prochazka broke the news one day at practice, "she was so full of pride." Torvi Prochazka added, "Dejah deserves the spotlight, not just because she's the first African American woman to graduate from our program but because of who she is, a huge reason this program is getting better every year and that we will only continue to improve. Torvi Prochazka finished, "she has laid the foundation for the woman who will come after her."
 
The importance isn't lost on Behrend.
 
Finding out that I was the first African American that was going to be graduating from the South Dakota Mines volleyball program was a huge deal for me," said Behrend. "It made me feel like I was paving the way.  It felt like I was part of this big change, a change in history that only I can say, so it was very exciting to learn that and made me very proud to just be able to represent my community in that way, it even transferred in a way. "A lot of us older women participate in recruiting visits, and getting to speak with some African American athletes that were also coming in and being able to ensure them that they would get a good experience and also letting them know that the community here -- maybe it's small --- but it definitely expands because, maybe it's not all African American athletes. But there are tons of other student-athletes and students in the school that support African American athletes and other races and ethnicities. It might seem like it's a small community, but really, it's not." Behrend finished, "Then being able to see programs, like the alliance program, was pretty cool and just seeing that it's not just about your skin color but it's about what you believe in. So seeing those groups come together, and just being able to offer that kind of community, and that kind of security to other athletes coming in behind me is kind of gratifying, just knowing that I was one of the first people to do this."
 
Behrend will graduate with a degree in chemical engineering and has already landed a job, working as a sales engineer for Emerson in Marshalltown, Iowa.
 
Dejah Behrend is truly one-of-one, but if you listen to her, so is everybody else.
 
About South Dakota Mines
The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and NCAA Division II offering 10 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic programs. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 members, as well as four associate members, located in the states of California, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah.