NORTHERN TODAY 3 FALL 2014 LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT James M. Smith, President Fall has given way to winter. The beauty of changing leaves and the magnificence of the remaining green grass that would remind almost any visitor of a Norman Rockwell painting, are already past. But, without question, our campus is one of the most beautiful you will find anywhere in the United States! Along with the annual changing of seasons comes activity. Students are energetically engaged in myriad projects and faculty members are working to bring the very best of teaching, research and service to our entire NSU community. As you will see on the faculty and student highlight pages, there is certainly a great deal of positive action and interaction going forward right now. Although many of these deserve special mention, I will call your attention to only a few. First, as you will immediately note, our sport marketing and administration students and recent graduates are doing amazing work in the field of professional and Olympic sport. These students, after working directly with Dr. Tom Orr, have obtained some of the very best internship placements in the country. This placement rate and the successful nature of the placements themselves are true testimonials to Dr. Orr – but also to each of the students who have ventured out to see the world of sport as it unfolds in the high profile and not-so-high-profile elements of everyday activity. Congratulations to all for their great work in representing Northern in such a fabulous way. Additionally, please note that Jordan Abu-Sirriya is participating in the White House Internship Program in Washington, D.C., this semester. Jordan, from Aberdeen, is very busy working with White House staff members responding to candidates for presidential appointments, communicating with departments and agencies on personnel matters and ensuring that personnel priorities of President Obama are being met. Interns also help research potential issues that impact the White House on a daily or weekly basis. As you might expect, this appointment is highly selective and Jordan represents NSU very well at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue! Simply stated, all of these internship profiles demonstrate the ability of NSU students to compete with students from any university at any location on the national or international map. Gypsy Day is also featured prominently in this issue of Northern Today. Without question, the entire day was a terrific success. The parade was outstanding. The bands were loud and demonstrated musical splendor for all who listened. The football contest was won by the Wolves in perfect style. And, old friendships were renewed and a few new ones generated as well. Keep your eyes open for next year, please; in 2015, NSU will celebrate Gypsy Day number 100. This holds special meaning to all – the number 100 is certainly an impressive one when ascribed to any event, but as you think of college/university homecomings, 100 is a very impressive number indeed. Finally, this fall we travelled to Asia. More on that topic will come in the next edition, but to summarize our work in just a few words, the trip continued to reinforce the importance of NSU as a global institution of higher education. With students on our campus now from 35 different nations, we continue to have great acceptance in countries with massive numbers of outbound study abroad students. It was nice to see and hear the importance that NSU holds in the discussion of international education, even 12 time zones away from Aberdeen, South Dakota! Enjoy the magazine and Go Wolves, WELCOME TO THE LATEST ISSUE OF NORTHERN TODAY!
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