LEADS: In service of Service — Creating ‘front doors’ to UND

Editor’s note: The following letter, written by Amanda Curatti, a UND aviation student who is a North Dakota Space Grant Consortium NASA STEM Ambassador; Tom Dennis, associate director of Communications; and Daphne Pedersen, Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor of Sociology, introduces a special edition of UND Today focused on the “Service” core value of the UND LEADS Strategic Plan. Head over to UND Today to read the full selection of stories reflecting the Service objective of the plan.

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By Amanda Curatti, Tom Dennis and Daphne Pedersen

“Grand Forks, D.T.,” the photo is captioned, because that’s when it was shot: on Oct. 2, 1883, a time when Grand Forks was still a part of Dakota Territory.

The famous photo shows band members and dozens of others lined up in downtown Grand Forks, in advance of travelling to the prairie site two miles northwest of town where Old Main, the first building of what was to be the University of North Dakota, was taking shape.

And when you take a closer look at the lineup of officials, a bearded figure stands out. He is Nehemiah Ordway, the territorial governor – and, by virtue of his status as a leader of the territorial government, a symbol of the “Service” commitment that UND continues to honor to this day.

For UND was never meant to be simply a set of buildings where North Dakotans would enter and then emerge, four years later, as educated citizens ready to work. Instead, the University has always seen its responsibility extending beyond the perimeter of the campus to the whole of North Dakota – and even beyond that, to the nation and world.

That’s why Webster Merrifield, UND’s third president, spent much of his time as president and a fair amount of his own money traveling to North Dakota’s secondary schools as North Dakota’s high school examiner. (Merrifield’s service was so important that he was memorialized when he retired as “father of the state high school system.”)

That’s why the School of Mines, established in 1890, began the state geological survey that helped identify and call attention to North Dakota’s vast lignite and, later, oil and gas resources. The state’s Core and Sample Library is housed on the UND campus to this day.

And that’s why Service is today one of only five core values of the UND LEADS Strategic Plan. In this letter introducing the special UND LEADS – Service issue of UND Today, we’ll present just a few of the myriad ways in which Service, 142 years after Territorial Gov. Nehemiah Ordway made his appearance at the laying of the University’s cornerstone, continues to animate life and drive activity at UND.

Sharing UND’s expertise

Let’s start with The Conversation. Going back to the boundaries of the UND campus mentioned above, imagine the treasure chest of knowledge that the faculty members within those boundaries represent. Hundreds of people on campus – maybe even thousands – hold graduate degrees. Some of them are world authorities in their field.

How can UND better share that knowledge with the public?

The Conversation helps make that happen. The Conversation is a nonprofit media resource that publishes “explanatory journalism” stories by university scholars, then makes those stories available for free and immediate republication. Back in 2016, a UND faculty member published the University’s first article on The Conversation’s website. Since then, 35 other faculty members have followed suit, and the 52 articles they’ve written have amassed a combined total of more than 1.1 million reads.

These articles have appeared on the websites of not only The Conversation and UND Today, but also newspapers, magazines and other media outlets worldwide. 

By freely sharing their knowledge – for professors don’t get paid for their Conversation articles – the UND faculty authors are living out the Service core value. As that core value calls for, they are creating a “front door” to UND, inviting in the rest of the state and world to benefit from their knowledge. They’re “providing lifelong-learning opportunities that appeal to community members of all ages,” in a way that “capitalizes on the expertise of UND.”

And they’re doing so in a way that would make Webster Merrifield proud.

‘Front door’ in both directions

UND’s efforts to create “front doors enhancing engagement and collaboration” took on special significance for the family of one of us (Daphne Pedersen) last spring.  Early in 2024, the Provost’s Office reached out to Pedersen to see if her family was interested in assisting with UND’s first cohort in the Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative (YSEALI), an exchange through the U.S. Department of State that pairs early-career professionals with an American counterpart and a host family. 

Pedersen warned the office of their situation: a large and busy family, a noisy dog who doesn’t like people (or other dogs), and the controlled chaos of the household.  It was with apprehension and enthusiasm that the family agreed to become home stay hosts for Ngo Bao Linh, an education activist from Vietnam. 

“You see,” Pedersen says, “serving as a representative of the University is much simpler when you are on a beautiful campus wearing business attire.  Hosting a stranger in your home for a month causes you to think about the state of your bathrobe.” 

As it turns out, this was a life-changing experience for the whole family, and all of the members hope it was the same for their guest, Ngo Bao Linh. The family provided entrée to UND and the greater Grand Forks community for Linh; and later, Linh did the same for them, during a reciprocal exchange to Vietnam. 

There were many “firsts”, ranging from attending a country western concert (when in America …) to riding on the back of a motorbike through waves of urban traffic in the Mekong Delta (when in Vietnam …). 

UND’s goal is to “embrace practices that allow flexibility and encourage positive risk taking,” and that’s exactly what happened, Pedersen says. Working with Laura Link as her UND sponsor, Linh formed a network of professional contacts in the United States and expanded her awareness of theoretical and applied efforts within educational spaces. In turn, Pedersen and her spouse Adam Kitzes, professor of English, were challenged to stretch their professional expertise in exciting ways with a variety of organizations and universities in Ho Chi Minh City.

Most significantly, Pedersen’s family has gained another member, and all see the role and purpose of the University in a novel and expansive way. 

Helping young people ‘dream bigger,’ have ‘lasting impact’

Since joining the North Dakota Space Grant Consortium’s STEM Ambassador program in the fall of 2023, one of us (Amanda Curatti) has had the privilege of directly contributing to the community by providing meaningful service through STEM outreach.

Curatti’s role has allowed her to engage with young learners across North Dakota, creating a “front door to campus” and bringing STEM education directly to the communities that need it most.

By leading after-school programs and hands-on workshops, she has been able to work with children who often lack the resources or exposure to explore STEM fields. This work, which sparks curiosity and empowers future generations, truly embodies the spirit of service.

A core aspect of this mission has been to inspire underrepresented groups, particularly young girls, to pursue careers in fields such as aviation and space exploration. As a female in a traditionally male-dominated industry, Curatti strives to serve as a visible role model for students who may not otherwise see themselves in these careers. Last year, for example, she led the Grand Forks Mentor Center after-school program, which introduced exciting STEM concepts such as aeronautic demonstrations and space exploration.

This year, the Space Grant Consortium has expanded its efforts to work with Encore after-school programs, reaching more children across the state with activities such as “Rockets to the Rescue” and “UV Astronauts.”

One of the most rewarding aspects of her role, Curatti says, is witnessing the tangible impact of our outreach on students and the broader community. At events such as Girls in Aviation Day, she has seen young girls not only learn about coding and aviation, but also experience firsthand the possibilities that lie ahead for them.

Opportunities offered by the Consortium, such as internships at NASA, further deepen this impact, by giving students the chance to collaborate with some of the brightest minds in the world and contribute to projects shaping the future of science and technology.

Curatti’s service as a STEM Ambassador goes beyond education, in other words. It’s about creating pathways for students, especially in North Dakota, to dream bigger and pursue careers that will have a lasting impact on our state, our nation and the world.

And that’s what UND’s Service commitment is all about.