The Minnesota Daily Board announced Thursday that current Alumni Relations Director Marin Durkee will be the Daily’s next Marketing and Engagement Officer. 

Durkee, who joined the Daily as the assistant director of alumni relations in January and advanced to director of alumni relations this summer, will begin her term as MEO in January. 

“I’m so excited to get to collaborate with so many more people and really help the Daily be the best that it can,” Durkee said. 

In her time as MEO, Durkee hopes to foster collaboration both among her team and with the newsroom’s leadership as well as increase the Daily’s brand and visibility in the University of Minnesota community. 

“I hope that through our promotional efforts, students can view the Daily as being something that can represent their voice and can be a resource in so many different aspects of their day-to-day life,” Durkee said. 

Current Daily MEO Destanee Ulrich said she is excited to see Durkee take on the role. 

“I’ve been mentoring her for the past couple of semesters, and I’m confident in what she can accomplish,” Ulrich said. 

Daily Executive Director Charlie Weaver said he is looking forward to seeing Durkee put her ideas for the Daily’s communication strategy into action. 

“​​I’m really intrigued by her plan to help elevate the brand of the Daily,” Weaver said. 

MN Daily Media Board Chair Eli Mattison said Durkee’s dedication to representing the Daily and increasing the organization’s presence on campus will help continue the momentum the organization has built in the last few years. 

“She clearly has a passion for the Minnesota Daily since before she started here,” Mattison said. “And there’s nothing that collaboration can’t help us achieve.”

Durkee, whose mother also worked at the Daily, developed a passion for journalism and media at an early age and knew even before starting college that she wanted to work at the Daily. Through her work in alumni relations, she has been able to work with alumni who worked at the Daily with her mom in the 90s, bringing the connection full circle. 

Durkee said she is excited to bring this passion to her new role and help make the Daily an organization students value and look back on as a great part of the University. 

“I hope that they see it as the reputable and respectable organization that it is,” she said.