News

MSUM alumnus Chad Nelson ’07 (mass communications), a photojournalist with KARE 11 in the Twin Cities, won two top honors in the 2017 National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) Video Best of Photojournalism awards, in what’s being called an “unprecedented sweep.”

Nelson was named both the Ernie Crisp News Photographer of the Year and Editor of the Year at a ceremony June 2.  Read the rest of this entry →

MSUM alumnus Chad Nelson ’07 (mass communications), a photojournalist with KARE 11 in the Twin Cities, won two top honors in the 2017 National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) Video Best of Photojournalism awards, in what’s being called an “unprecedented sweep.”

Nelson was named both the Ernie Crisp News Photographer of the Year and Editor of the Year at a ceremony June 2.  Read the rest of this entry →

On May 1, the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO), announced the recipients of the 2017 Ellis Island Medals of Honor. Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner and retired Major General Larry Shellito — a Minnesota State University Moorhead alumnus — was among the one hundred outstanding Americans in business, government, medicine, art and education, as well as honorees from all branches of the military, who will receive the 2017 medal.

Other honorees include legendary former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi, TV host and journalist Fareed Zakaria, CEO of HSN Mindy Grossman, former actress and film studio executive Sherry Lansing, and chef and restaurateur Thomas Keller.  Read the rest of this entry →

Recent GCOM graduate Jonathan Calix recently received a Silver American Advertising Award (ADDY) for Best Website for the District 8 region, which includes Minnesota, North and South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Back in February, Jonathan’s fictional brand www.fargo2night.com received awards including Best Catalog, Best Website and Best In Show for student work at the local Addy awards. This month the website will be submitted for award consideration at the National level. He created the company website and branded materials for his GCOM Senior Final project in May 2016.  Read the rest of this entry →

Three MSUM alumnae were named elementary school principals in the Fargo Public Schools District for the upcoming school year. Congratulations to Cathy Selberg, Karrie Rage and Leandra Ostrom!  Read the rest of this entry →

The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference has announced that Brett Beeson, who starred for the Minnesota State University Moorhead men’s basketball program in the 1990s, has been selected for a spot on the NSIC’s Top 25 team. The team is part of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the conference.

Read more on MSUMDragons.com.

Mindy Grantham ’92 (mass communications) was recently at Flag Is Up Farms, home to the real-life horse whisperer, Monty Roberts and his wife, Pat Roberts, renowned sculptress, for the international launch of Lead-Up International. Lead-Up workshops are conducted with vulnerable youth with the goal of breaking the cycle of violence and creating the next generation of peaceful and powerful leaders through workshops with horses. Ten Monty Roberts instructors were certified to impart Lead-Up workshops in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States.  Read the rest of this entry →

The MSUM Marketing Team earned several awards at Friday night’s American Advertising Federation’s (AAF-ND) ADDY Awards. The annual ADDY Awards program honors excellence in advertising and cultivates the highest creative standards. It is the only creative awards program administered by the advertising industry for the industry. Each year, AdFed members from around the country enter more than 60,000 samples of their best work, making the ADDYs the world’s largest advertising competition.  Read the rest of this entry →

Rinita Dalan, Anthropology and Earth Science, MSUM alumna Rebecca Wallace (Geoarchaeology 2017), and colleagues from the Midwest Archeological Center of the National Park Service and the University of Kansas, have had an article published in the online journal Remote Sensing. Their paper “Cutbank Geophysics: A New Method for Expanding Magnetic Investigations to the Subsurface Using Magnetic Susceptibility Testing at an Awatixa Hidatsa Village, North Dakota” forwards an approach for enhancing geophysical studies of archaeological sites.

Tuesday, Jan. 24 | 7 p.m. | Fargo Library Community Room

Ethan Smith ’14 (art) first was interested in the architecture of the Fergus Falls building that used to be the state hospital. The building was built at the end of the 19^th century in the vision of Dr. Thomas Kirkbride, a psychiatrist that recommended mental hospitals with lots of sunlight, located in nature. The opportunity for Smith to further explore those interests began when he was selected to a one-month artist’s residency program that was sponsored by the Fergus Falls Springboard for the Arts. He lived on the grounds of the state hospital and using a large format film camera, documented interior and exterior spaces. During the project, while talking to local residents, the building came alive with the sense of humanity of the people who lived and worked there.  Read the rest of this entry →

The United Way of Cass-Clay announced its 2017 35 Under 35 Women’s Leadership Program participants, which includes seven MSUM alumnae and one employee.

MSUM alumnae include:

• Beth Althoff, Doosan-Bobcat
• Renee Charon, Legal Services of Northwest Minnesota
• Jesika Jorgenson, Discovery Benefits
• Yulia Murzaeva, Widmer Roel
• Danna Nelson, Fargo Park District
• Leah Trontvet, YMCA of Cass and Clay Counties
• Jamie Wepking, Minnesota State University Moorhead

Wepking also works at MSUM as the Assistant Director of Admissions Campus Preview Program and Call Center.

Congratulations to these outstanding women!  Read the rest of this entry →

Finance majors Jenna Kalthoff and Peter Olson, along with alumnus Eric Krupke and advisor Dr. Thomas Hanson presented four research projects at the Academy of Business Research Conference in San Antonio last week. The papers by Kalthoff and Krupke were named best papers in their session.

Take a look at the news stories featuring MSUM in the last week.

Student’s ceramics, drawing exhibit explores ‘middle ground,’ searches for space between 2-D and 3-D, Daily Collegian: “The HUB-Robeson Center Gallery presented a public reception held from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Nov. 1 for ceramicist Stephanie Seguin’s (2009 alumna) dramatic yet minimalistic installation: Deconstructed Form; An Investigation of Silhouette, Contour, & Shape.”

It’s Officially Time for No Shave November, KVRR: “It’s time to start growing out your hair! MSUM’s Colleges Against Cancer is hosting its annual contest for No Shave November.”

Competitive gaming: West Fargo man makes living off fast fingers, video game skills, WDAY: “Videogames: Some call them mindless or time-wasters, but a West Fargo man found a way to make a living out of his virtual skills. And he’s not alone when it comes to jumping on the competitive gaming bandwagon. The steady symphony of a keyboard clicking as constant as Brandon Qual’s heartbeat. How fitting, given Qual’s lifeblood: Gaming.”

Photographer earns award for saving kittens from Grandin fire, InForum: “Photographer Carlos Pacheco has earned a Compassionate Action Award from PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.”

Dragons ‘Battle for the Axe’ against Bemidji State, InForum: “Minnesota State Moorhead will compete for one of the oldest rivalry trophies in NCAA Division II this weekend. The Dragons play at Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football foe Bemidji State at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Battle for the Axe.”

Dragons reclaim the axe from Bemidji after missed extra point, WDAZ: “The MSU Moorhead football team had a chance to guarantee themselves a winning season by reclaiming the axe against Bemidji on Saturday.”

Missed extra-point kick helps Dragons win at Bemidji State, InForum: “Bemidji State missed an extra-point kick with 39 seconds remaining and Minnesota State Moorhead hung on for a 42-41 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference victory Saturday, Nov. 5.”

Immigration is a wash on wages, but an overall boost for economy, MSUM professor says, InForum: “Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump made immigration a hot topic for the Nov. 8 election with his claims that Mexican illegal immigrants were criminals and ‘rapists’ and that they are stealing Americans’ jobs. But those claims don’t hold up—for the most part—says Oscar Flores, a professor of economics at Minnesota State University Moorhead.”

Horace native all in for Norwegian reality show, InForum: “Jeff Johnson [’92 alumnus] doesn’t watch reality TV. He didn’t even own a television until this year. So his participation in this season of the Norwegian reality show ‘Alt for Norge’ is a bit of a head, err … beard-scratcher.”

For several years, MSUM graduates have appeared in various capacities in The Minnesota Fringe Festival, the largest non-juried festival in the United States, and the third-largest in North America. The festival provides opportunities for aspiring actors, directors and producers to gain exposure and experience.  Read the rest of this entry →

In tandem with a series of month long events called “Printober” focused on printmaking at the Plains Art Museum, Corinne Teed’s intermediate printmaking class created a collaborative screenprint installation titled “Fragile Preservation: A Tallgrass Community” that will be installed in the museum’s sky bridge. The students developed a collaborative public work focused on ecology and threatened species in the tallgrass prairie after a guided tour at the MSUM Science Center by Biology Professor Dr. Alison Wallace.

The exhibition opens on Thursday, Oct. 13 from 6–8 p.m. Also opening that night is a Tri-College print exchange titled “The Matrix” featuring prints of students, faculty and alumni of MSUM, NDSU and Concordia.

Take a look at the news stories featuring MSUM in the last week.

Innovative Program Provides Valuable Microsoft Dynamics CRM Experience, Making Students Competitive in the Job Market, Microsoft: “By connecting three pinnacles of success—industry, education, and application—the faculty and administration at Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM) are preparing their students by teaching them the essential skills and strategies of Customer Relationship Management (CRM).”

14th Annual Fargo Fantastic Film Festival Comes to a Close, KVRR: “‘Minnesota State University Moorhead is the only school in the region that has a four year film degree program. Actually Minneapolis doesn’t even have one. So between Chicago and Seattle MSUM is the place to go for film…’ says Chairman of the Fargo Fantastic Film Festival Tony Tilton.”

MSUM Making Effort to Clean Up Cigarette Butts, KVRR: “Students at MSUM are trying to get people to stop throwing their cigarette butts on the ground. The week-long campaign began on Monday.”

MSUM students Trash the Ash, Valley News Live: “A week long campaign to Trash the Ash began at MSUM on Monday. Students on campus who are Wellness Educators will devote the week to picking up cigarette butts around campus.”

MSUM student travels the world as professional video gamer, InForum: “Brandon Qual is fighting a cold he picked up on a trip to Toronto where he played in a video game tournament. It’s an occupational hazard. Stress, fatigue and jet lag go along with his job. Qual is a professional gamer, one of the world’s top contestants in StarCraft. He commutes from here to compete in tournaments around the world.”

Social media to play a huge role in Presidential Debate Monday night, WDAY: “Some think it’ll simply just be for entertainment, rather than a way to sway a vote. ‘I do not see most people following seriously to make judgments. But they’ll pay attention. Like who gets the most re-tweets, or what phrase was retweeted the most, or what becomes the best ‘hashtag,’ said Denise Gorsline, MSUM Communications Professor.”

WDAY and WDAZ Nominated for 8 Emmy Awards, WDAY/WDAZ: “We here at WDAY and WDAZ are giving ourselves a pat on the back this morning. We are up for 8 Upper Midwest Regional Emmys. The nominees were announced Friday morning.” Congratulations to our alumni nominated for awards: Dana Mogck ’83 Kevin Wallevand ’84, Andrew Nelson ’12 and Jordan Schroeer ’15.

The School of Media Arts & Design was well represented at the 10th annual South Dakota Film Festival. Dr. Tony Adah, Kyja K-Nelson and 18 film and animation students traveled to Aberdeen, S.D., Sept. 23-25 to exhibit their film, animation and video installation. Additionally, SoMAD was honored at the festival.  Read the rest of this entry →

Theatre B, Fargo-Moorhead’s only resident professional theatre company, is producing its current play with a good bit of help from MSUM students and alums. The play, How the World Began, has three characters who argue over science and religion in a tornado-ravaged Kansas town. Two of the three actors are affiliated with MSUM. Kate Aarness is a 2016 graduate from the MSUM theatre program, and Doug Hamilton has a long history with MSUM. He graduated in 1971, and worked over the years as a teacher, an assistant to the president for media and community relations, and executive director of the university’s alumni foundation.  Read the rest of this entry →

Several MSUM alumni recently caught the spotlight at The Ivey Awards, a celebration of the theatre community in the Twin Cities. The Ivey Awards Committee selects honorees that exemplify excellence within their craft over the last season. Each year’s ceremony features highlights from a few productions (chosen from hundreds staged over the past year) to perform a song or scene.  Read the rest of this entry →