Former Mayville State president, others to be honored with Sioux Award during UND Homecoming week

Mayville State University President Gary Hagen's career is winding down after more than 40 years on campus, the last 12 as president. He will be retiring at the end of June 2018. Eric Hylden / Forum News Service

By Sydney Mook

September 30, 2019 at 3:06 PM

Former Mayville State President Gary Hagen will be among those honored at the annual Sioux Awards this year as UND celebrates its homecoming.

Hagen, who spen more than 40 years at the college, was president at Mayville State from 2006 to July 2018, when he retired.

Other Sioux Award recipients are:

Greg Everson, a 1972 graduate, who is described as a pioneer in medicine and the treatment of hepatitis C. He is the chief of hepatology at the University of Colorado.
Jennifer Neppel, 1986 graduate, chief investment officer for CommonSpirit Health, formerly known as Catholic Health Initiatives.
Gordon Henry, 1966 and 1970 graduate, former UND Vice President of Student Affairs.

The 2019 Young Alumni Achievement Award recipients are:

Dr. Andrea Hanson, a 2002 graduate
Christina Sambor, a 2005 graduate.

The Sioux Awards banquet, which begins at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, is one of dozens of events going on on campus this week.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the new Memorial Union will take place at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5, outside the UND School of Law.

Guest speakers for the groundbreaking include UND Interim President Joshua Wynne, North Dakota State Board of Higher Education Vice Chair Casey Ryan, UND Vice President of Student Affairs & Diversity Cara Halgren and CEO of the UND Alumni Association & Foundation DeAnna Carlson Zink.

Former UND Student Body President Erik Hanson and current president, Gracie Lian, also will take the podium – representing the student leadership that has led efforts to bring the proposed $80 million project closer to reality.

In November, UND students voted in favor of replacing the former Memorial Union facility by increasing student fees to support the construction of the new Memorial Union. The building is expected to be completed in 2021.

Colleen and Werner Nistler, the donors who are committing $20 million to build the new College of Business and Public Administration building on campus, also will be on campus.

A public celebration of the couple will begin at 1 p.m. Friday in the Gorecki Alumni Center.

The UND ROTC will be hosting a public open house form 1 to 4 p.m. Friday in honor of the 100th anniversary of ROTC at UND. The event will be held at the UND Armory.

From 4:15 to 5:15 p.m. Friday, North Dakota State Rep. Ruth Buffalo will be giving a free talk as a part of the Red River Women’s Studies conference in Education Room 7.

The homecoming parade will be 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, along University Avenue. The route will begin at the Gorecki Alumni Center then go to one block past Columbia Road. The parade will run on the northside of the median.

The UND Fighting Hawks will take on U.C. Davis at 1 p.m. in the Alerus Center on Saturday. Following the football game, hockey fans will be able to catch the men’s hockey team matching up with Manitoba at 7 p.m. in the Ralph Engelstad Arena.

Find the full list of events at https://undalumni.org/homecoming .

By Sydney Mook

Sydney Mook has been the managing editor at the Herald since April 2021. In her role she edits and assigns stories and helps reporters develop their work for readers.

Mook has been with the Herald since May 2018 and was first hired as the Herald's higher education reporter where she covered UND and other happenings in state higher education. She was later promoted to community editor in 2019.

For story pitches contact her at smook@gfherald.com or call her at 701-780-1134.