2007 Graduation Information

Graduation for the Class of 2007 will be held Friday, May 11, at 10 a.m. in the Dome. Approximately 700 undergraduate and graduate degrees will be conferred, with about 600 to 650 graduates participating in the ceremony.

Live Online Video Broadcast
Broadcast Link (Requires DSL or cable, not dialup)
Broadcast will start at 9:30 a.m. (Central Time)
An archived version of the video will be posted the following week for later viewing.
Windows Media Player is needed for viewing (PC or Mac)

Broadway Construction Information & Access Maps
The WEST side of the North Broadway and University Avenue intersection will be closed for approximately 10 days, beginning Monday, May 7. This means you will not be able to access University Avenue and the south side of the Minot State University campus from Broadway. On the EAST side of Broadway, one lane of north and south traffic will continue. As has been the case, left hand turns are NOT permitted at 11th Avenue North. The alternate routes are marked with blue informational signs.

» Map showing how to get to campus parking [pdf]
» Map showing how to leave campus [pdf]

If you need further information or assistance, please call the MSU Public Information Office at
858-3298 or 1-800-777-0750, ext. 3298.

Full Press Release: MSU commencement ceremony has new and old twists 05/09/07
On May 11, the moment that many Minot State University seniors have been waiting for will finally arrive. Graduation for the Class of 2007 will be held Friday, May 11, at 10 a.m. in the Dome. Approximately 700 undergraduate and graduate degrees will be conferred, with about 600 to 650 graduates participating in the ceremony.

The commencement ceremony will honor Minot State University’s traditions and set some new precedents as well.

In a nod to its past, this year’s graduates will be presented a rolled scroll of congratulations signed by President David G. Fuller upon completing their walk across the stage. The idea came from an April 2006 visit by Dr. Fuller with alumna Ila Selzler in Towner, N.D. At that time, Ms. Selzler showed President Fuller her original diploma as is had been presented during her commencement ceremony - as a rolled scroll, tied with red ribbon. Ms. Selzler graduated from the State Normal School at Minot on June 10, 1932, with a Standard Course of Study diploma. Her diploma is signed by President George A. McFarland, 1922-1938, who died in office at the age of 80. Ms. Selzler will be in the audience and introduced as an honored alumna during the May 11 ceremony.

In looking ahead to Minot State University’s centennial in 2013, the ceremony will also recognize the institution’s new strategic plan "Vision 2013." The 2007 commencement speakers will address the theme "Sense of Place," which corresponds to the strategic plan’s first strategy, "Creating a Distinctive Mission Focused on Engagement and Place."

The speakers for this year’s exercises are senior Kelsey Broschat, Cooperstown, and MSU alumnus Orlin Backes of Minot.

Ms. Broschat has earned a Bachelor of Science in Education degree, with a double major in history and music. She maintained a 4.0 grade point average in both majors. Ms. Broschat played the clarinet with the Concert Band and sang with the Concert Choir. She is a member of College Music Educators National Conference and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. Ms. Broschat received the Blanche Lynch Memorial Scholarship for full tuition for the 2006-07 academic year and was chosen by the Minot Association of Teacher Educators as the 2007 Outstanding Student in Teacher Education. She student taught for eight weeks each at Washington Elementary School in Minot and Minot High School Central Campus. Ms. Broschat plans to teach next year.

Mr. Backes was raised near Glenburn, graduated from Glenburn High School in 1953, and graduated with a baccalaureate degree from Minot State University in 1958. He taught high school in Max from 1958 to 1960. Mr. Backes earned his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of North Dakota School of Law in Grand Forks in 1963. He has since practiced law with the firm of McGee, Hankla, Backes & Dobrovolny in Minot. Mr. Backes has been a member of the American Bar Association and the N.D. Bar Association since 1963 and is a past president of both the Ward County Bar Association and the State Bar Association. In 1995 he received the "Distinguished Service Award," the highest award given by the N.D. Bar Association. Mr. Backes was elected mayor of Minot in 1994. Backes is a charter and current member of the MSU Board of Regents, a past president of the Alumni Association, and was the chairman of the MSU Jubilee ’88 Capital Campaign. He is a past recipient of the MSU Golden Award.

Since Dr. Fuller became president in July 2004, the university has embarked on a broad-based and comprehensive strategic planning process. The process resulted in the published document "Vision 2013: A Vision for the Future of Minot State University" and a bold, new goal for MSU to achieve national distinction as one of the premier public, regional universities in the "great" Great Plains. To achieve this goal, seven strategies have been developed.

While Minot State University will be striving to achieve all seven strategies, each commencement ceremony for the next six years will carry a theme related to one specific strategy. In this way, each of the following graduation ceremonies will build upon the strategic plan and culminate in the 2013 ceremony, which celebrates Minot State’s centennial.

Another new feature at this year’s commencement will be the presentation of flags representing the countries of MSU’s international students. In this way, Minot State University will not only honor the homelands of international students but also demonstrate its goal to develop and support a diverse and multicultural campus in the near future.

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