NDSU Libraries has launched a poster series to promote diversity on campus and encourage prospective and current students to be proud of their heritage. The series, called “I am NDSU,” was revealed April 12 in the Main Library.
The inaugural series includes four posters, each featuring a different American Indian student who attends NDSU. The students include Kalina McCloud, a nursing student and member of Turtle Mountain Chippewa tribe; Heather Flute a student majoring in English and member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate tribe; Courtney Redwing, a pharmacy student and member of Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate; and Thomas Bluestone, a criminal justice student and member of the Three Affiliated Tribes. They all will graduate from NDSU in 2013.
Each poster displays the student’s photo and some of his or her words. For example, Flute’s poster says, “My whole experience at NDSU has molded me into a better person and helped prepare me for the next challenges in my life.”
All the posters have the following message: “NDSU promotes diversity and inspires prospective and current students to be proud of their heritage. The first of a planned series showcasing our campus’ diversity, this poster helps visualize NDSU’s commitment to providing all students with abundant opportunities for intellectual, personal and professional growth.”
One set of posters will be permanently displayed in the Main Library’s primary lobby stairwell. Another set will be periodically displayed in the Memorial Union in the rotating showcase frames throughout the year. Smaller flyers will be displayed around campus, as well as the NDSU Libraries’ website and Facebook page.
Emily Hoadley, an accounting technician, and Nicole Mason, a librarian, both for NDSU Libraries, helped initiate the poster project. They said the idea was inspired by a similar series at the University of North Dakota.
“We would like to thank our four students for finding time in their busy schedules to participate in such an inspirational project,” Hoadley said, adding they hope to highlight a different diverse group in the future.
Funding for the project was supplied by a grant from the Division of Equity, Diversity and Global Outreach.
For more information on the project, contact Hoadley at 701-231-6505 or emily.hoadley@ndsu.edu or Mason at 701-231-8879 or nicole.k.mason@ndsu.edu.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.
