MEDIA ADVISORY: March 8 event explores UND’s response to COVID-19 pandemic

UND will unveil its extensive, multimedia COVID archive at a free event in the Empire Arts Center on Wednesday, March 8. Members of the media and public are welcome to attend

Who: UND President Andrew Armacost; Chuck Haga, part-time UND writing instructor, columnist with the Grand Forks Herald and former writer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune; Sarah Heitkamp, UND art collections curator; and Zeineb Yousif, digital initiatives librarian at Chester Fritz Library, will speak at the event.

What: UND will unveil an archive of interviews and photos documenting the experiences of community leaders and the University’s students, faculty and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic that began early in 2020.

When: Wednesday, March 8, at 4:30 p.m.

Where: The Empire Arts Center in downtown Grand Forks

Background: Commissioned by President Armacost in late 2021, the exhibit is called “The Power of Our Community: How UND responded to and was affected by the pandemic.” At Wednesday’s event, UND will unveil an archive of interviews and photos documenting the experiences of community leaders and the University’s students, faculty and staff during the COVID pandemic that began early in 2020.

Central to the COVID archive project is a series of more than 50 video interviews by Haga, whom Armacost chose to lead the effort. Haga has taught writing at the University since 2014 and has a master’s degree in history from UND.

Among those Haga interviewed were faculty; students; some staff; and a half dozen university partners, including local health officials, the mayor of Grand Forks and the commander of Grand Forks Air Force Base.

The video collection of interviews and photos will serve as a historical archive of how our community came together to navigate through the pandemic.

President Armacost, as well as Haga, will give a few remarks and show video highlights. Also set to speak are Sarah Heitkamp, UND Art Collections curator, and Zeineb Yousif, digital initiatives librarian at the Chester Fritz Library, both of whom have worked on documenting and archiving UND’s response.

A new pandemic exhibit will also be on display at the Empire Arts Center. Admission is free, and refreshments will be served.

Questions: For any questions, please contact David Dodds, UND director of communications, at david.dodds@UND.edu.

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