Grand Forks Mayor Michael Brown and University of North Dakota (UND) First Lady Marcia Kelly served a special “stone soup” at a program today. Several members of the UND and Grand Forks area communities were recognized during the program for their community-university projects.

The UND Center for Community Engagement uses the stone soup theme to emphasize the benefits of cooperation and collaboration, exemplified by te award winners. The stone soup legend tells the story of hungry travelers who start soup from a stone and convince villagers to contribute what they can, resulting in enough soup for everyone.

The 4th annual awards program featured exhibits of community-university teaching and research projects and remarks from Julius Wangler, executive director, Red River Regional Council.  The following awards were presented at the Stone Soup ceremony:

2009 Community Partner Award—Rugby, ND, and Archie Hill, former UND faculty member
2009 Public Scholar Award—Steven LeMire, assistant professor, UND College of Education and Human Development’s Educational Foundations and Research
2009 Faculty Service-Learning Award—Bridget Thompson, clinical associate professor, Nursing
2009 Engaged Department Award—UND Nonprofit Leadership Program, Heather Helgeson, coordinator
2009 Undergraduate Civic Engagement Award—Theresa Rerick, UND Communication and the Honors Program student
2009 Graduate Civic Engagement Award—Yuliya Kartoshkina, graduate student in Teaching and Learning
2009 Paul V. Boswell Award (presented in Conjunction with the UND Multicultural Student Services)—Alva Irwin, UND alum, and Frank Sage, UND graduate student

Contact:
Lana Rakow, professor and director
UND Center for Community Engagement
(701) 777-0675
lanarakow@mail.und.edu