2020 Speak Up Speakers
MSUM is excited to announce the five speakers for the 2021 Speak Up Event! Join us on February 23rd at 7 p.m. to hear current Dragons and Alumni share their stories. Limited in-person seating is available, so be sure to RSVP on DragonCentral!
Connor Murphy is a fall 2020 graduate of MSUM and a Spring 2016 graduate of M-State in Fergus Falls. He’s earned multiple degrees in music, dance, theatre, and psychology, also working in healthcare for five years. He works as a CNA and has a Medication Administration license, with an additional two years of volunteer service.
As a college student, Connor participated in student organizations that led to leadership opportunities for him. He participated in student government at M-State and the Kappa Sigma fraternity at MSUM. Connor also participated in Blackfriars and Spectrum at MSUM, as well as Tae Kwon Do at M-State. In his spare time, he enjoys hockey, music, movies, drinking Starbucks, and being active. He’s also known in the Fargo/Moorhead community for theatre acting and drag performance.
Leti Esteves Rodovalho is a graduate student at MSUM studying accounting and finance. She received her bachelor’s degree at MSUM also in accounting with a Spanish minor. During undergraduate, Leti was a part of the swimming team, worked as a tutor, SOC and Dragon Ambassador.
Currently, Leti works as a graduate assistant for Housing. Leti’s favorite thing about MSUM is the countless opportunities she had to meet new people and get involved in different campus activities. Leti learned a lot from her years being a student leader/ athlete. She loves the opportunity she has to make a positive impact on our housing student leaders.
Mateus Leite was born and raised in Brazil. He is now a senior at MSUM, studying Business Administration Marketing.
Mateus has worked on multiple campus positions, including Resident Assistant. He’s also worked with the MSUM Wellness center as a supervisor and the social media/marketing manager.
In 2019, Mateus started a Movember Chapter as a Student Ambassador on our campus. Movember works to educate students and community members about men’s health. They had their first campaign during the COVID-19 pandemic, but even with these difficulties, the team did a great job and was able to have a successful campaign to raise funds and awareness for men’s health. Mateus hopes to help inspire people to build something great and help others.
Nadir Yusuf is a first-generation college student. He’s originally from Solamia and immigrated to the United States thirteen years ago from the refugee camps in Kakuma, Kenya. For most of his time in the States, he lived in Willmar, MN. He’s currently studying business administration with an emphasis in marketing at MSUM’s Paseka School of business.
Nadir is also a student-athlete and competes for both the cross country and track teams. He runs events ranging between 3k and 10k!
On top of being a student-athlete, Nadir holds several student leadership positions. He’s a Lead Dragon Ambassador and captain of the cross country and track teams. You can also find him helping with fan engagement at athletic events, working for the GO!TEAM.
Sarah Connell moved to Moorhead in 2013 and attended MSUM for a degree in psychology. Her passion for helping others led her to continue her education, and she received a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling in 2018. She now works full-time as a licensed mental health counselor in Moorhead.
On top of that, Sarah started her own business, Wildflower & Co. It challenges her creative passions and advocates for Mental Health and Women Empowerment.