University of Mary’s 10th Annual Day of Service Unites Hundreds for Largest One-Day Volunteer Event in ND
Day of Service Wednesday, October 2, 2024, celebrates Homecoming Week
BISMARCK, ND — Helping animals, doing yardwork, cleaning, and painting, are just some of the many volunteer activities hundreds of University of Mary students will be engaged in during their 10th Annual Day of Service Wednesday, October 2, 2024.
University of Mary’s Day of Service has become North Dakota’s biggest one-day volunteer event and is organized and run by students. This year’s event looks to be the largest ever with 1350 students, faculty and staff participating. They’ll be engaged in volunteer projects not only in the Bismarck-Mandan community, but also in Fort Yates, ND, at our Mary College at ASU campus, and our Rome campus.
Classes are canceled on the Day of Service so students can come together with professors and administration to serve others by giving of their time and talents. It’s an opportunity for everyone to join in fellowship to build new relationships and community.
“This year we are extremely excited to be organizing the University of Mary’s 10th Annual Day of Service,” explained Marty Longsdorf, Mission for Life coordinator that the University of Mary. “Our student co-chairs, with the support of the Mission for Life office, have worked diligently over the last several months to make this day a success. The Day of Service is an extremely important day for our campus, where our students venture off the hill and go into the greater community of Bismarck and Mandan to serve. This day is not about meeting academic requirements or degree planning. Rather, it is a day where the students on our campus can experience what our hearts were truly made to do: serve joyfully and give our lives away in love.”
The event begins on campus at 8 a.m. in the Starion Living Room, located in the lower level of the Lumen Vitae University Center, with a candlelight procession into the McDowell Activity Center (MAC) for an All-School Mass and Day of Service Commissioning. Breakfast will follow in the lower level of The Crow’s Nest Restaurant before students and faculty begin their service projects from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Coronation of the Homecoming King and Queen will occur at 4:30 p.m. in Founders Hall, followed by a homecoming feast served in the Crow’s Nest Restaurant at 5:30 p.m. Coronation follows at 7 p.m. in Founders Hall, while at the same time the Marauders face off against archrival Minot State in ACHA hockey from the Starion Sports Complex in Mandan.
Serving others is a big part of the University of Mary’s mission since being founded in 1959 by the Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation Monastery.
As part of the ongoing Vision 2030 Campaign, University of Mary’s student body recommitted itself to becoming servant leaders of moral courage, providing a culture grounded in service, fostering a great capacity to pour themselves out in loving service to others. The new, campus-wide Day of Service campaign that began in 2014 answers that pledge and strengthens every student’s commitment and understanding that each were made for more.
Anyone who wishes to learn more about the University of Mary can do so at www.umary.edu or online.umary.edu, or by contacting an admissions representative at enroll@umary.edu, or by calling (701) 355-8030. The University of Mary is one of only 15 Recommended Cardinal Newman Society Residential Colleges and Universities in the US.
About the University of Mary: True to its motto “lumen vitae”—The Light of Life—the University of Mary offers education for the whole of life through cutting-edge professional programs and graduate programs animated by moral courage and leadership in chosen professions and service to the community. A private, co-educational Catholic institution, the University of Mary welcomes students of all faiths and backgrounds.
A Christian, Catholic, Benedictine institution founded in 1959 by the Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation Monastery, Mary offers over 60 bachelor’s, 15 master’s, and five doctoral programs—in Business Administration, Education, Nursing Practice, Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy. The 19-sport Athletic Department adheres to its Greatness Through Virtue mission under the governance of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) conferences. With more than 3,800 students, Mary has locations in North Dakota, Montana, Arizona, Rome, Italy, as well as vibrant online offerings.