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Yellow Bird: Celebrating 125 years of UND history
Monday, March 3, 2008
Filed Under: Opinion

"There was a sweet aroma of perfume and an image of polish among the crowd at Thursday’s 125th anniversary celebration of UND’s Founding Day.

As I stood watching the growing crowd, I remembered who I was standing among: men and women who are the best in their fields — scientists, medical doctors, nurses, microbiologists, engineers, philosophers, historians and writers, many of them teachers.

A professor interrupted my thoughts. She knew my daughter, Lisa Lonefight, who attended UND. A little farther down the rows of placards and booths, another professor told me that he knew my brother, Don Yellow Bird, who was in this professor’s teacher corps program maybe 40 years ago. My brother now is a retired science teacher.

I went with my sister, Liz, who came to honor her longtime friend and co-worker, Deb Wilson, director of the Recruitment/Retention of American Indians into Nursing program.

UND President Charles Kupchella, who was the emcee and looked as dapper as a talk show host, came to our table to congratulate Wilson. She has worked at UND for 25 years, she told him, but has been at UND for more than 30 years. She received her bachelor’s and masters’ degrees at UND, too.

I’ve known Wilson for a long time. She is RAIN. Her dedication to the program has taken many American Indian students through it, and many of them now are scattered throughout Indian country as much-needed nurses. Some of those earlier nurses’ children are entering RAIN now, she told us with a smile."

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Dorreen Yellow Bird: History comes alive at UND party (The Grand Forks Herald 3/1)
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