“It is once again my great privilege to bring you the State of the University,” North Dakota State President Dean Bresciani said Friday in the Festival Concert Hall. “NDSU is a very special place, thanks to your hard work and commitment.”
President Bresciani then dove right into last year’s 17 percent budget cuts . “The people of NDSU are not just resilient, but are more adaptive than any I’ve ever known,” Bresciani said. “If you’re like me, you’d have trouble imagining a university community of 18,000 people that is as nimble as we have been over the past few months.”
He then went on to talk about the university’s strong land grant research values, but stopped for a special thank you to the staff that remained focused on NDSU’s vision. “Thank you for your talent, dedication and commitment to NDSU,” Bresciani said. “You know how vital our work is. You see every day that NDSU is a place that gives students and the citizens we serve opportunity like no other.”
NDSU received seven Research Project Grants — also called RO1 grants — one of the National Institutes of Health’s most competitive grants. According to President Bresciani, this is an impressive number. “It’s important for us to recognize the caliber, breadth and impact of the research conducted here. And that here, unlike most of our peer institutions, our students are working alongside these world class researchers.”
Bresciani added in his own touch of humor during the speech, using many clever quotes by others and a bit of his own material. “We have a history of achievement despite adversity. In the past we’ve faced objective and subjective challenges, and we have prevailed, and we will, again, eat adversity for lunch.”
The speech highlighted university achievements including the hiring of new faculty, starting construction of Catherine Cater Hall, the success of NDSU’s philanthropy campaign, sustainability given the recent budget cuts and welcoming the largest freshman class the university has ever seen.
The average GPA of the university has also increased to 3.47.
“Throughout this address, my guess is you’ve come to appreciate why I’m so proud of our faculty, staff and students,” Bresciani said.
See the Bison Information Network’s video coverage of the event here.