30 NORTHERN MAGAZINE Wolves Country Built to Last On a cold winter night in Aberdeen, when the Barnett Center is full and the crowd rises in a sea of maroon and gold, it’s easy to believe that Northern State University athletics has always been this way—loud, proud and deeply woven into the fabric of the community. But that spirit didn’t appear overnight. It has been built over 125 years, rooted in the early days when athletics were part of the experience as a way to build character, community and identity. Even in Northern’s earliest days, sports were already about more than the final score. Early in the school’s history, during a 1913 football game in Ellendale, North Dakota, a moment unfolded that perfectly captured something essential about Northern’s athletic culture. University President George W. Nash was preparing to leave Northern for a position in Washington, and Willis E. Johnson, then president of Ellendale Normal and Industrial School and a former Northern faculty member, was set to succeed him. During the game, Johnson escorted Nash across the field to the Aberdeen side. The Ellendale crowd, realizing they were about to lose their president, began to shout: “We want Johnson! We want Johnson!” Without hesitation, the Aberdeen fans answered back: “We saw him first!” Ellendale quickly fired back: “We have him now!” The exchange was playful and competitive—unmistakably Northern. It was a reminder that even more than a century ago, athletics were already a stage for pride, identity and community.
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