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College classes are done for the 2024-25 school year, but the �ձ�av��Ƶ campus will be “flooded” with a much younger student population on Tuesday, May 13, as �ձ�av��Ƶ hosts the 33rd annual Big Sioux Water Festival. The event will draw 1,100 fifth graders from 24 schools in eastern South Dakota, including Brookings and Watertown. They will be accompanied by 180 teachers and chaperones from 53 classrooms plus 155 area volunteers.

May 10, 2025, marks the 139th commencement at �ձ�av��Ƶ. More than 1,700 graduates will walk across the stage, ready to take the next step in their careers. This year, the ceremonies return to campus — inside the newly renovated First Bank & Trust Arena. After rotating through five different locations over the past seven years, commencement is back on campus to stay. But pulling off an event of this size takes more than just a great venue — it takes months of planning, a campuswide committee and one person leading the charge.

�ձ�av��Ƶ held its annual Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Day April 15 in the University Student Union’s Volstorff Ballroom.

�ձ�av��Ƶ is hosting its 139th Commencement Ceremonies May 10 at First Bank & Trust Arena. Community members should be aware of increased traffic flow and patterns throughout the weekend due to several campus activities.

The �ձ�av��Ƶ public health program celebrated National Public Health Week with two days of events focused on highlighting the impact of substance use disorder and related stigma in South Dakota.

Four �ձ�av��Ƶ recent and soon-to-be graduates will be featured speakers at the university’s 139th commencement on May 10 at First Bank & Trust Arena. �ձ�av��Ƶ will have three ceremonies as more than 1,700 students plan to walk across the stage for their degrees.

A single note can hold an entire world of emotion. For �ձ�av��Ƶ assistant professor Mark Stevens, a single piano piece can hold an ocean. His multiyear commissioning project, “One Drop Contains Oceans,” explores how music from a variety of voices can transform the classical piano repertoire. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 2, he will bring those voices to life in a public performance at the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center.

The South Dakota Art Museum invites the public to celebrate its newest exhibit, “Sharing the Care: Stories of Conservation Collaborations,” at a social hour and lecture set for Friday, April 25.

The �ձ�av��Ƶ Civic Symphony will deliver a celebration of timeless classics with its spring concert, starting at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 13, at the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center.

What’s a Midwesterner’s pipe dream? How about sitting in the living room recliner while clearing your driveway with a remote-control snowblower? It’s not a pipe dream for four �ձ�av��Ƶ mechanical engineering majors who will demonstrate their invention at the Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering’s Engineering Expo April 22. This is one of about 40 projects that will be on display at the Expo, which is an opportunity for seniors to showcase their capstone efforts. Other examples are a telemedicine app for veterinarians remotely monitoring an animal and a drone that will inspect shafts in the Sanford Underground Research Facility.