RAIN Honor Ceremony celebrates graduates, culture, community

Traditional meal, Friendship Dance, sense of belonging reflect culture of caring that makes UND’s RAIN program stand out

On May 14, the second floor of the Memorial Union was filled with the warm inviting smell of buffalo roast and wild rice soup. Tables in the Union’s large ballroom filled with friends and family, young and old, waiting to dine — more important — to watch students be honored for graduating from the College of Nursing & Professional Disciplines’ RAIN or Recruitment & Retention of American Indians into Nursing program.

Each year, RAIN holds a unique graduation ceremony, one that blends the typical graduation affair — speeches, food, applause — with elements of Native American culture such as drum and chant music, a traditional meal and sacred Star Quilts.

Above all, the Ceremony is a celebration of students, many of whom will return to their communities to work as nurses. The warmth of the fry bread and blueberry wojapi was matched by the inviting, community-centric atmosphere that pervaded the event.

A sense of belonging

During a brief speech at the beginning of the program, Dean Maridee Shogren of the College of Nursing & Professional Disciplines confirmed that RAIN operates with this same warmth day to day.

“Every student who has an opportunity to walk into RAIN’s office is welcomed,” she said. They’re embraced, and they’re put at ease, because the RAIN team strives inspire a genuine sense of belonging.

“They ask you about your family right away,” Shogren said. “They check in about your school. They want to know how your exams are going, and they even remember events that are coming up or just happened.”

She continued: “As a dean, I sometimes find my trips to RAIN come along with heavy information, but I, too, am welcomed and encouraged to sit down for a conversation. They never rush me along. They give me their valuable time, and as a result, I feel heard and I feel seen, too.”

Barb Anderson, RAIN program director, said that she and her colleagues work to cultivate an inviting atmosphere, and the result was on full display at the traditional meal and Honor Ceremony. Since RAIN’s inception in 1990, program leaders have held the Honor Ceremony at the end of each academic year, though Anderson did mention that it’s gotten more elaborate over time.

Anderson also believes that, in addition to facilitating student learning, the warmth that the program offers is one of its most valuable attributes for recruitment and retention. For example, Anderson mentioned that Izaias Ramirez, a member of the Muscogee Nation and a nursing graduate among those honored at the Ceremony, traveled to North Dakota from Oklahoma after hearing the then-director of the School of Medicine & Health Sciences’ INMED program Dr. Donald Warne speak about RAIN in 2019.

“His mom had wanted him to go somewhere where she knew someone would be there to help him and care about him,” she said. “I think that’s just a testament to our program, and to have people feel like that is so important to us.”

Additionally, the Ceremony’s emphasis on Native culture is at once an acknowledgment of the program’s graduates as well as a celebration of the flourishing and resilient Native American culture. Moreover, the traditional meal was only the beginning.

After the meal, Ramirez and his fellow graduates were called up one at a time to receive a Star Quilt from Shogren and Anderson. As they walked up to be recognized, a drum group made up of members of the GXP Singers from Spirit Lake Nation played an honor song.

The event closed with a large Friendship Dance, accompanied by a song from the GXP Singers drum group. During the dance, the graduates and their families were accompanied by CNPD faculty as they joined hands and formed a large circle around the tables of the large ballroom, dancing with proud smiles on their faces.

 RAIN’s far reach

RAIN’s goal is to build a stronger Indigenous health care workforce, ensuring that Native communities are served by professionals who share their cultural background and values, Anderson said.

And, as a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, she’s seen this mission get realized, particularly on her home reservation.

“When I go back to Indian Health Service at Turtle Mountain, I see our nurses there,” she said. “At one point in time, we had 50 nurses who graduated from the RAIN program go back there to work.

“That’s always had a lot of meaning to me, because I’m always seeing those results.”

But RAIN’s impact extends far beyond North Dakota. Trips to Indian Health Service centers across the country also remind Anderson of the program’s reach, she said.

“Prior to COVID, we would visit all of the reservations in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Nebraska,” she said. “We’ve been to Wyoming, Wisconsin. And when we go back and see their Indian Health Service facilities, we’d see our graduates there.

“It’s very heartwarming. It’s like, wow, look at the difference this program has made.”

‘A work of the heart’

Anderson, who was recently recognized for 40 years of service at UND, also worked at UND’s INMED program before joining RAIN in 2007. Despite her lengthy tenure at the University, the years have flown by, she said.

“We know these programs make a difference, and we can see the impact they have had on health care and health equity for our American Indian people in this country,” she said. “And when I look back at 40 years, it doesn’t feel that long. I think that’s because we do this from the heart; it’s a work of the heart.”