Staff Senate rebrands Denim Days into Denim Spirit Days

For many years, under the leadership and direction of the UND Staff Senate, UND Denim Days have helped bring attention to, and raise needed funds for, a number of outstanding and deserving local non-profit organizations.  Historically, Denim Days around the world originally started as a way to bring awareness to sexual assault and then was adopted locally to bring awareness and raise funds for other charities.  On March 23, 1994 UND members of Council of State Employees (COSE) held an open forum in the Memorial Union to discuss  the possibility of UND adopting a jeans day to support local non-profit charities.  In May 1994 a proposal was submitted by representatives of COSE to the President’s Cabinet requesting the establishment of a UND Denim Day. This proposal followed similar guidelines as “Jeans Day in North Dakota” implemented by the Bismarck Tribune.

This proposal was accepted and UND’s first Denim Day was May 25, 1994.  A six-member charity selection committee made up of staff representatives was appointed by the President to manage and oversee this endeavor. Volunteer site coordinators across campus collected donations.  In February 2010, in order to increase its visibility and support across campus, and to oversee the general operations of the committee, President Robert O. Kelley requested that the Denim Day Committee become a standing committee of Staff Senate.  As the endeavor has grown, we now have over 49 volunteer site coordinators across campus that assist in our success and ability to give back to non-profit chairties.

This year, a proposal was brought forth to Staff Senate with the idea of merging Denim Days with Spirit Days.  The Community Relations committee of Staff Senate voted to approve the merger resulting in Denim Days changing to Denim Spirit Days and are designating every Friday as Denim Spirit Day, with the first Friday of every month set up for a Special Denim Day.  Staff Senate’s mission for Denim Spirit Days is to give everyone the opportunity to donate $1.00 or more each week to show compassion for non-profit organizations in the Greater Grand Forks community. We encourage the whole campus to wear DENIM and/or SPIRIT colors of green, pink or other UND gear on Fridays in support of OneUND.

If you participate in Denim Spirit Days, we ask that you pay $1.00 towards a worthy area nonprofit organization that can use the support.  Your $1.00 may be given to your denim day site coordinator or may be deducted from each paycheck if there is enough interest.  More information about payroll deduction will be coming out soon.

As a result of the change, there will be only one Special Denim Day a month. We are asking our previous Special Denim Day applicants to please submit their applications no later than Dec 19th so that we may plan as to which ones will get approval and assign them to a designated month. All proceeds from that Special Denim Day will go to that organization.  Special Denim Day applications can be obtained by emailing patricia.reed@library.und.edu.

Here is the list of Denim Spirit Days for 2017:

• Jan. 6 – Special Denim Day
• Jan. 13
• Jan 20
• Jan 27
• Feb 3 – Special Denim Day
• Feb 10
• Feb 17
• Feb 24
• Mar 3 – Special Denim Day
• Mar 10
• Mar 17
• Mar 24
• Mar 31
• April 7 – Special Denim Day
• April 14
• April 21
• April 28
• May 5 – Special Denim Day
• May 12
• May 19
• May 26
• June 2 – Special Denim Day
• June 9
• June 16
• June 23
• June 30
• July 7– Special Denim Day
• July 14
• July 21
• July 28
• Aug 4 – Special Denim Day
• Aug 11
• Aug 18
• Aug 25
• Sept 1 Special Denim Day
• Sept 8
• Sept 15
• Sept 22
• Sept 29
• Oct 6 – Special Denim Day
• Oct 13
• Oct 20
• Oct 27
• Nov 3 – Special Denim Day
• Nov 10
• Nov 17
• Nov 24
• Dec 1 – Special Denim Day
• Dec 8
• Dec 15
• Dec 22
• Dec 29