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The Pride of the Dakotas Marching Band is a time-honored tradition at �ձ�av��Ƶ. Abby Connor, a senior agricultural systems technology major, is a co-captain for The Pride’s color guard.

The 33rd annual Lamb Bonanza will showcase the integral role of the lamb and wool industry in South Dakota while supporting the �ձ�av��Ƶ Jackrabbits with an afternoon of basketball.

The 10th annual Pack-The-Pantry Drive at �ձ�av��Ƶ in November saw 3,823 food items collected for Jack’s Cupboard, �ձ�av��Ƶ’s student-run food pantry. The top contributor for the Nov. 11-22 event was the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions, which collected 2,377 items (pictured above). Jack's Cupboard is on the southeast side of Ben Reifel residence hall, and any �ձ�av��Ƶ student experiencing food insecurity can receive food.

Each winter, a special corner of �ձ�av��Ƶ’s campus comes alive with light and cheer. It feels like something straight out of a holiday film — twinkling lights, festive music, crisp winter air and families and friends coming together to celebrate. The magical scene is set at McCrory Gardens, where Garden Glow transforms the landscape into a winter wonderland, with thousands of sparkling lights illuminating the path.

The Child and Family Resource Network at �ձ�av��Ƶ is hosting its next “Common-Sense Parenting” class series starting Jan. 7. The free, six-class series is designed for parents and individuals who engage with school-age children, kindergarten through 12th grade.

Aaron Busmann, a building maintenance lead worker for Facilities and Services, has been named �ձ�av��Ƶ’s Civil Service Employee of the Month for December.

The �ձ�av��Ƶ School of Design is hosting a new alumni gallery exhibit, “Now and Then,” in the Ritz Gallery in Grove Hall on the �ձ�av��Ƶ campus. The solo exhibition features the work of art educator Michael Aasness, who is the grades 6-12 art instructor at Sioux Valley School District in Volga.

In the tough and gritty world of construction, paper dolls would seem to be as out of place as steel-toed boots at a ballet performance. However, when four construction management students attended a recent skills competition, paper doll construction was among the activities. Of course, the �ձ�av��Ƶ students weren’t putting dresses or bonnets on their dolls. In fact, their dolls weren’t even what Pinterest would call paper dolls. Their paper dolls were cut-out, scaled pieces of paper that represented tilt-up concrete panels on cast-on-site projects. The students and 16 others from other Midwest universities were taking part in the Region 4 Skills Summit sponsored by the Associated Schools of Construction.

Statistics doctoral student Andrew Simpson has found great success in the complicated field of large-scale number crunching and data analysis. He already holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and statistics (2021) and a master’s degrees in statistics (2022). In 2026, he should complete his third degree from �ձ�av��Ƶ with a doctorate in computational science and statistics with a statistics specialization. He has presented at a national conference and had a paper printed in an academic journal.

A senior nursing major, Olivia Tagart serves as the president for the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, an organization representing student-athletes from the 19 NCAA Division 1 athletic programs at �ձ�av��Ƶ. Tagart, a Denver native, is a member of �ձ�av��Ƶ women’s swimming and diving team and is in her fourth year of involvement with the Student-Athlete Advisory Council.