UND at 125
This week marks the official observance of the 125th anniversary of the University of North Dakota.
In its early years, UND was little more than a scattering of buildings two miles west of Grand Forks. Getting back and forth from town to campus involved either taking a train or a horse and buggy. Initially, the only building on campus was Old Main which housed everything from classrooms to dormitories.
What a difference 125 years make...
Today, UND enrolls over 12,000 students in nearly 200 fields of study. In stark contrast to its early days as a muddy patch of converted fields with no sidewalks or grass, the campus now stretches over 549 acres and encompasses 223 buildings (5.33 million square feet of indoor space). UND's economic impact on the state and region has been gauged at roughly $1 billion dollars annually and UND employs nearly 3,000 people making it the largest employer in the state after the Air Force. UND has the only schools of medicine and law in the state and arguably the finest aviation school in the world. Research institutions now dot the UND campus and bring in millions. Today's UND athletes play in giant buildings including the palatial, $100 million dollar Ralph Engelstad Arena. The men's ice hockey team has emerged as one of the finest college hockey programs in the country. A lot happened from 1883 to 2008!
With so many changes recently taking place, UND is now poised to enter a new era. What will UND look like 125 years from now? What would people like Webster Merrifield and George Walsh think of UND if they could see it now?
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16 comments:
Yes, 5,000 of us with free T-shirts were in photo, near grey t-shirts that spell out UND, look for more directions soon. greenglass4.
cake and ice cream was tasty at the union.
anonymous - you are an idiot. if you have this much time on your hands maybe you should do something constructive.
Happy birthday to UND!
I agree. The cake and ice cream was very tasty and very festive with the green colored cake/pink ice cream. I thought more students would attend since it's free cake and punch.
UND's official numbers are still higher than NDSU...if it matters. Just saying, get the facts straight playa!
Dear Shirley,
Today we celebrated UND's 125th anniversary. While the cake and ice cream was quite nice, I was impressed with the the napkins and the elegant anniversary pins they handed out. I met John Jacobs (JJ) who comes from a long line of janitors that have worked at UND. Did you know JJ is now known as a building engineer?
This blog has become a waste. Sort of like the crazies who use MSNBC to chat all night. I wish GFG had a way to report abuses on this site. Not even worth reading any longer. See ya.
Just having fun in the winter months, anon @ 6am.
Speaking of winter months. Anyone looking forward to Spring? Got any fun plans? Have you already started planning your new garden?
I am so looking forward to Spring, that I think I may even enjoy the slushy sidewalks this year. :-)
BTW - Happy Birthday UND!!!!
Whadya expect from a bunch of UND students, after all?
I have to admit Anon@six's post isn't without merit; the infantile crap that persists on this blog in the last three months has undoubtedly undermined the original intention of Grand Forks Guy to provide an informative and positive board in support of a place that normally is a most enjoyable place to live.
With all due respect, since we're all potty trained in here, perhaps its time we acted like it.
Geesh.
Whadya expect from a bunch of UND students, after all?
I didn't realize there were many UND students who read this blog. Is this really the case? If so, it's interesting to me that UND students who aren't from Grand Forks would even care what is going on in town.
I truly like this blog, GrandForksGuy, but some of these comments are right--without you around to lead discussions or keep us on track and civil (and not endlessly posting crap about the-restaurant-that-must-not-be-named), it seems to be falling apart. I for one will continue to read and discuss the posts and comments on Grand Forks Life in as best a way I can, but you may be losing some readers who really do care about this town.
Just something to think about.
Shameless plug coming up:
If you are a UND student and want to chat about random stuff, you can do that at the Campus Dakota message board. We also have a new IRC channel (=chat room) up that some people might be interested in. That can be found here. Just put in a nickname and click Connect.
Just so you know. I have deleted several comments by the anonymous poster(s) who have recently disrupted some of these threads.
"If so, it's interesting to me that UND students who aren't from Grand Forks would even care what is going on in town."
That's a sad way to view UND students...I hope it's not entirely true. I know it is true for many students, but I don't think all students are so disinterested in Grand Forks.
Quick question:
How has Springfest been for the last couple of years?
I was thinking of hoofing it up there to partake in the festivities, but I've heard from some that it's become a lame, corporate shadow of it's former self.
Is that true?
I understand the need for safety, but shutting it all down at 6PM?! Come on, that sucks.
I agree with GFG. I moved to GF to attend UND and have since stayed, going on 8 years now. I have numerous friends that are the same and all graduated from UND. I have at least 20 friends that are not originally from GF, but decided to stay here after college.
Ditto! UND Grad here - been here for several years myself. And trust me, I remember vowing at one point that I would NEVER live here again. Then I moved away, grew up and realized this is a great place to live and raise kids.
Also, there is a healthy portion of the UND population that grew up around here. So I feel that their feedback is an asset to this blog. Now before anyone jumps down my throat, I define feedback as a valuable contribution to the discussion at hand. Not random gibberish (sp).
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