Stitched Together: CNPD’s Place in the UND Community Quilt
A quilt is made of individual pieces, each with its own story, coming together to create something larger than any one square.
That idea was at the heart of the University of North Dakota’s Year of Community in 2025-26. It now lives on in the UND Community Quilt, a campus-wide project that brings together 144 individual squares representing significant people, places and things across UND and the Greater Grand Forks region.
The College of Nursing & Professional Disciplines was proud to be one of the many pieces of that larger story, contributing six squares that reflect the people and disciplines at the heart of CNPD.
A campus-wide project
The Community Quilt began during the 2025-26 academic year, when UND designated the year as the Year of Community. Quilting was chosen as a fitting expression of that theme because of its connection to people coming together and creating something collectively.
In a spring 2026 President’s message, UND President Andy Armacost explained that 144 8-by-8-inch squares were distributed to units across campus. Each unit was invited to create imagery representing how it saw its contribution to the mission of the University of North Dakota.
When assembled, those individual pieces became one quilt representing the many facets of the UND community.
Stephanie Homstad helped bring the pieces together, leading CNPD’s efforts and coordinating the college’s participation in the project. Her work helped ensure that CNPD’s story became part of this larger campus portrait.
The completed quilt was unveiled at the 2026 State of the University Address, along with a website introducing each square, bringing the project full circle.
“These squares are abstract representations about how each unit on our campus connects itself to the vision and mission of the University of North Dakota,” Armacost said during the unveiling.
Squares tell the CNPD story
Together, the CNPD’s quilt squares offer a small snapshot of who we are as a college and how our work connects to UND’s larger mission of educating students and the work we do in our communities.
Nursing Students
Designed by nursing student Dawsin Ackerman, this square uses three familiar symbols: a heart, stethoscope and bandage.
The heart represents the compassion and care they bring to patients, the stethoscope reflects the clinical skills they are developing, and the bandage symbolizes the healing and comfort they provide. Together, these elements highlight nursing students as dedicated learners and essential contributors to patient care.
Social Work Students
Designed by Social Work student Cassie Dubray, this square centers on a tree rooted in a heart-shaped background.
The tree symbolizes development, resilience, and the expanding impact of students as they grow into their professional roles. The heart-shaped background reflects a strong commitment to compassion and service, while the roots emphasize grounding in values, community, and social justice. Together, these elements highlight social work students as emerging professionals dedicated to supporting individuals and strengthening communities.
Nutrition & Dietetics Students
Designed by Nutrition & Dietetics student Autumn Thompson, this square features fruits and vegetables to represent healthy food choices, nourishment and overall well-being.
The imagery also speaks to the broader role of food in connecting and sustaining individuals and communities, reflecting the work students are preparing to carry into their future professions.
Social Work Faculty
Designed by Stephanie Homstad, the Social Work Faculty square features five colorful figures surrounded by blue hands.
The figures evoke the variety of students, families, and communities the faculty walk beside, each held in dignity and care. The surrounding blue hands speak to the quiet, enduring work of faculty: holding space, offering guidance, nurturing growth, and standing in protection and advocacy. Together, the image honors social work as a practice of connection, responsibility, and hope.
Nutrition & Dietetics Faculty
Designed by Nathaniel “Thanny” Johnson, the Nutrition & Dietetics Faculty square features a heart and carrot.
The heart shape reflects care and commitment to health, while the carrot symbolizes nourishment, wellness, and the foundational role of nutrition in healing and prevention. Together, these elements highlight the faculty’s dedication to educating future professionals and promoting healthy communities.
Nursing Faculty
Designed by Nursing faculty Nicole Martin, Kaitlyn Kelly Shikanai and Joni Tweeten, this square centers on the green Maltese cross associated with the pin presented to UND nursing graduates.
At its center, the nursing lamp represents compassion and dedication, representing the care offered day and night. Its light illuminates knowledge and learning, reflecting the pursuit of ethical practice and a beacon of hope to those who need healing. Together, the image honors Nursing faculty as teachers and mentors who illuminate the path forward and prepare students to carry skill, care, and hope into the world.
Food & Community
This block contains a fork and spoon and was initially submitted as part of the design from Nutrition and Dietetics. Their initial design needed to be reduced to one image, but the UND Quilt Committee liked these elements and wanted to be sure they were included in the quilt.
The fork and spoon signify food and community. Students gather daily to eat with one another at Wilkerson, the Memorial Union, the Library, and other buildings across campus.
One college, part of something bigger
There is something especially fitting about CNPD’s six squares representing both faculty and students.
Education is a relationship. Faculty share knowledge, mentorship and experience. Students learn, grow and ultimately carry that knowledge into their professions and communities.
That same relationship is reflected in the larger Community Quilt. Each unit contributed something distinct, but no square stands alone. Together, the 144 pieces tell a broader story about the people, ideas and communities that make UND what it is.
For CNPD, our six squares represent nursing, social work and nutrition and dietetics. They also represent something bigger: people caring for people, students preparing to serve, and educators helping the next generation find their path.
President Armacost noted in his spring message that the completed quilt represents “the many facets of what we are as the University of North Dakota community.”
CNPD is proud to be one of those facets.
One college. Six squares. One much bigger community.
