Northern works to engage students in campus, community

Montana State University-Northern Dean of Students Corey Kopp said the next few weeks will see the campus continue its efforts to engage with students and welcome them back with a series of events that were kicked off earlier this month with the Aurora Borealis Festival.

Kopp said this week kicked off a series of programs held for the school’s residential community with the various residential halls hosting activities that range from “Adulting 101” courses for new residents, to academic networking among students with the same majors.

He said the nightly events will run through this coming Sunday and will also include, speed friending to help students find community, Northern-themed jeopardy and a s’mores night.

In addition to that, he said, tonight will be the National Night Out featuring live music, raffles, and a free barbecue, held in collaboration with the Havre Police Department.

The next week will see a suicide-awareness walk Sept. 9, and the next day will see Montana Actors’ Theatre’s premiere of “Mama Mia!,” then the Havre Clean-up Sept. 11.

Kopp said Northern will also be participating in Festival Days this year, as well as the Hi-Line Games, a new event set for Sept. 19 at 10 a.m.

The event will features races, a fence-post fling, hay bale heave, Karaoke with Hi-Line Hymns and a trivia event called The Battle of Wits.

Kopp said Northern’s Sweetgrass Society and Little River Institute are working to bring some Native American games to the event as well.

He said people looking to be part of a team for the event should get in touch with Grant Olson by email.

He said the games will kick-off homecoming week, which will be the capstone to the welcome back events.

Kopp said some events are still being set up, but they are planning for a frisbee golf tournament, bubble soccer, an outdoor movie, a student wellness fair, a bonfire and, hopefully, a powwow.

He said one or two other events may also be added, but for now most events are set.

The opening month of events are the result of nine months of work by Kopp and the Student Engagement Committee in conjunction with the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce and numerous campus organizations aimed at connecting students with the campus and the community.

The Aurora Borealis Festival earlier this month, especially, was an attempt to connect students with community and organizations as well as businesses which provided information on what services they can offer to students, as well as possible jobs during and after their time at MSU-Northern.

Kopp said the event was a success and bodes well for the next month which he hopes has gained some momentum as a result.

He said he didn’t really know what to expect in terms of turnout but they counted around 200 people, which he’s considering a win.

“I think that was a pretty good showing for the first time around,” he said.

Kopp said campus and community organizations and businesses set up 30 tables and based on all the positive feedback it seems like they were successful in building the connections he was hoping for, so it’s a relative shoe-in for next year as well.

He said they will certainly be making some changes based on feedback, mostly smaller things like live music placement and other logistical issues.

He said he’s always open to feedback so he and his colleagues can make things better next year, and that’s true for all events in the next month.