VIDEO: Repatriation, Strategic Plan among topics at Faculty & Staff Town Hall

UND president, other leaders on hand to provide answers 

Editor’s note: On Wednesday, Aug. 31, UND held via Zoom a Town Hall for Faculty and Staff. The event starts out with a report on the status of UND’s new Strategic Plan, then evolves into a Q&A, with many of the questions centering on the repatriation news that had been announced by the University earlier in the day.

A video of the Town Hall is above, and below is a list of the questions that were asked and the time when each question occurs. In the video, the questions from the audience are asked by Meloney Linder, UND’s vice president for marketing and communications.

****

14:05: President Armacost, I think you have and can answer some questions regarding the repatriation news. So I’m going to turn it over to you.

31:54: President Armacost, one of the questions that’s come in while you were speaking was, ‘Can you address what UND will do for reparations for all of the current and historic harm our university has done to First Nations Indigenous and American Indian people?

33:57: Another questioner was wondering: Regarding the discovery of ancestral remains, has the Grand Forks County Coroner’s Office been advised at this situation?

34:40: President Armacost, given the current events and the history of our campus, what steps will UND be taking regarding the Ralph Engelstad Arena and the selling of Fighting Sioux-related items?

37:09: How did UND determine why the remains are located on our campus?

39:16: President Armacost and Vice President Joshua Wynne, there was a question about the land acknowledgement, and can a Land Acknowledgement Statement be drafted for other campuses in Fargo, Bismarck and Minot?

42:55: The next question, I think, goes to DeAnna Carlson Zink (CEO of the UND Alumni Association & Foundation). And the question is, will the UND Alumni Association & Foundation rename the Sioux Awards to the Distinguished Alumni Awards, or other appropriate name?

47:33: To President Armacost and perhaps to DeAnna Carlson Zink, would we consider as a name the Fighting Hawks Distinguished Alumni Award? And what is the rationale for keeping the Sioux name in there?

48:59: President Armacost, there was the question of, can there be additional Town Halls? I know that there was a Town Hall this morning at 9 a.m. with members of our Indigenous community. I think the question is referencing, can there be another Town Hall with more notice, since the notice for this morning’s Town Hall was rather short?

50:21: DeAnna, I think the next question is for you. And that is, would the Alumni Association & Foundation consider reading the Land Acknowledgement Statement at the awards banquet during homecoming?

52:04: President Armacost, is there anything else you’d like to say to close us out, as we’re coming close to the end of our time?