Best Moments in News

Some of what the editors think are the biggest moments in South Dakota news. It started with USD celebrating the growth of the Native Living Learning Community. Then the Beta band, Leila’s Rose, took the stage to open for 24K Goldn and language students presented at PanLingua. Photos by The Volante photographers Sydney Johnson, Maddie Martinez, Adam Pearson and submitted by sources.

Sept. 21

Native LLC

Grows

in its Second Year

Sept. 27

The Native Living Learning Community (LLC) grew in its second year from 18 students to 37 students. The community is made up of students mostly living on Mickelson’s second floor and originating from South Dakota, North Dakota, Alaska, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Iowa. There are 14 different tribal nations represented. Weiland

Oct. 06

Last year, Student Government Association (SGA) former president Caleb Weiland worked on a new university policy to propose to the President’s Executive Committee for what he called mental health misses. There were meetings in late fall, but nothing has been announced to the public.

Oct. 15

Nominated for Emmy

Students, faculty and staff around campus wear green bandanas on their bags as part of a mental health initiative. The Green Bandana Project is an organization to help spread awareness for mental health and stives to end the stigma placed on individuals struggling with mental health battles. Anyone wearing the bandana can be approached as someone to talk to or get resources from.

The USD Marketing team was nominated for an Upper Midwest Emmy award after submitting a 30 second commercial they wrote, filmed and edited in two days. Director Hailie Warren said the judges only pick the best handful to be nominated for an award from hundreds of pieces submitted. USD did not win the Midwest Emmy award.

Young Ae Kim returned to USD as a professor in the graphic design program after teaching at SDSU for five years. Kim worked for big companies such as Samsung and LG designing technology. She was successful in this field, but found her passion specifically in graphic design. She was a professor at USD for nine years before going to SDSU.

The Beta Theta Pi band, Leila’s Rose, performed at multiple venues and events throughout Vermillion including USD tailgates and Thursdays on the Platz. The band performed on their biggest stage for the 24KGoldn concert on Jan. 17. The band is unsure about their future as one performer graduated.

Jan. 17

Beta Band Performs for 24kGoldn

March 07

Award Winning Professor Back at USD

PanLingua, an undergraduate research conference for students to present their research papers or cultural experiences in a target language, returned to USD for a fourth time, celebrating their 10-year anniversary. There were 27 presentations this year: 24 paper and three posters presentations. The topics covered things such as history, creative writing and linguistics.

April 03

PanLingua Returns for 10-Year Anniversary

USD hosted its annual IdeaFest for two days in which the university was filled with educational presentations and speakers at the research symposium. IdeaFest is an opportunity for students to showcase their achievements and show others what they devote their time to outside of classes. Over the course of the two days, 375 students presented.

April 05-06

IdeaFest Celebrated 35 Years

April 11

The anthropology department at USD reintroduced the Museum Techniques course after a five-year hiatus. The course returned due to high demand from students. Although the class will not be offered every year, students can look for it in the spring of 2025.

Museum Class Takes Students Out of Class