President’s Column: Supportive donors, scholarship dinner, students on campus

VCSU scholarship donors Don ’63 and Sandy Bauer stand for a photo with scholarship recipients Zachary St. Aubin and Kendra Odegard.

Greetings from Valley City State University!

Last week gave us an opportunity to gather donors and students together for our annual scholarship dinner. This is an outstanding event that allows for students and donors to connect and share their backgrounds, histories, and association with VCSU – both past and present. The large gathering was held at the Valley City Eagles Club on Monday evening, October 7, following the VCSU Foundation Board meeting. The opportunity to share some fall 2024 campus updates and plans for the year was the precursor to a wonderful evening of food, fellowship, and conversation.

We are greatly appreciative of our donors who helped make possible the awarding of over $1.9 million in private scholarship support for our students. We know increased enrollment has a positive effect on our community. The support of these donors helps keep the cost of attaining a college degree affordable and has had a positive impact on our enrollment records the last three semesters in a row.

Over the next month, Valley City State is holding several events welcoming area high school students to campus. Our continued focus to host events for students creates ongoing opportunities for career exploration and skill development.

• Spanish Day will be held on Wednesday, October 16. Organized by our language and literature department and Professor Luis Betancur, this event will bring about 100 students together who have a mutual interest in advancing their own Spanish speaking and communication skills. Students attending Spanish Day will explore slang from Spanish-speaking countries, learn about their diverse cuisines, hear music from popular Hispanic artists and do imaginative craft projects. The VCSU music department will also perform a mini concert for Spanish Day participants. We have seen the number of students interested in Spanish increase over the past several years and appreciate the leadership of professor Betancur in this effort.
• There will be two upcoming opportunities for students interested in an education career. VCSU’s Tomorrows Teacher’s events will be held on Wednesday, October 30 and November 13. Participants will have several immersive opportunities to meet with current pre-service education majors and faculty in the School of Education and attend education classes during the day. For more information on this event, please contact Enrollment Services at (701) 845-7101 or register at this link. Special thanks to Dr. Allen Burgad, Dean of the School of Education and the faculty and students from the School of Education for providing these “hands on” career exploration opportunities in education.
• Finally, on October 24 and 25, the 21^st annual Ployhar Band Festival will be held in the Larry J. Robinson Center for the Arts. Named after one of our distinguished alumni and music hall of fame members, James D. Ployhar, this prestigious band has been selected from students across North Dakota through an audition process. The guest conductor will be Professor Jerrold Heide, director of bands at VCSU. VCSU music faculty and students will also assist throughout the day. This year’s band will be the biggest in the history of the event with 92 members. Statewide interest has also increased with almost 200 students auditioning. The two-day long festival will conclude with a grand final concert in the performance hall at 7:00 p.m. on October 25. The concert is free and open to the public.

Thank you, to our faculty and staff, for organizing these events and bringing these students to our campus and Valley City. Go Vikings!