MSU President's Column for Traill County Tribune

January 31, 2020 

Spring semester is off to a great start!

The spring semester is well underway and there is lots of Mayville State activity on and off campus. Our days are packed full of places to go, things to learn, people to see, and more.

This week we’ve had candidates for our head football coach position visiting campus. Our plan is to name a head coach early next week. We are excited about the candidates and look forward to our football program’s continued movement in a positive direction.

To help with that forward motion, an anonymous donor has stepped up and issued a challenge to all Mayville State alumni and friends. The donor will match dollar-for-dollar, up to a total of $20,000, all gifts made to Fall 2020 Football Scholarships. This influx of funding will assist our 2020 football staff in recruiting and retaining quality student-athletes for the Fall 2020 season. In order to qualify for the match, gifts must be received in the office of the MSU Foundation by Jan. 31. You can learn more by going to www.mayvillestate.edu/scholarshipchallenge, or by calling Andrew Workin at 701-788-4687.

This thoughtful challenge has the potential to make a huge impact for Comets Football this fall and beyond. We couldn’t be more grateful to the anonymous donor and to all who have made contributions.

We are about to launch a new e-sports program at Mayville State University! E-sports is a form of sport competition using video games. E-sports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions. Players compete as individuals or as teams. Although organized competitions have long been a part of video game culture, participation and spectatorship in e-sports has grown tremendously over the last several years. We are very excited about how this new program will be attractive to prospective students. Stay tuned for more information as this new program ramps up.

Our athletic teams continue to make us Comet Proud. The Comets men’s and our women’s basketball teams are ranked among the top 25 in the nation! The women are currently #16 in the poll and moved up from #21 last week. The men are ranked #24 in the nation. This is their first ranking in the top 25 this season. It has got to be a rare feat for an institution of Mayville State’s size to have both their men’s and women’s basketball programs ranked nationally at the same time. Congratulations to our student-athletes, coaches, and all involved!

Head men’s basketball coach Darrin Tighe recently achieved another milestone - his 100th career win. Since becoming head coach at Mayville State about two and a half years ago, Coach Tighe has racked up 52 wins for the blue and white, along with two North Star Athletic Association conference tournament championships and back-to-back NAIA national tournament appearances. Way to go, Coach Tighe!

This week we were honored to have about 100 students from area high schools at Mayville State University for the business division’s annual Business Activity Day. The students spent the morning participating in business-related competitions. After lunch, we were all treated to a presentation by North Dakota meteorologist Daryl Ritchison. Ritchison is director of the North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network. His very pertinent topic was “Economic Opportunities in Understanding Weather Patterns.”

Many alumni and friends enjoyed a delightful evening last weekend at the Glitz and Glam Gala. Entertainment was provided by the very enjoyable Midwest Dueling Pianos. People had a good time singing, dancing, and just plain having fun. The best part is that while we were having fun, we were supporting a great cause. Proceeds of the event will benefit Mayville State University and its students. Thank you to all who helped to make it a successful evening.

Things will not slow down as we turn our calendar pages to February. We hope you will check our website for opportunities to get involved at Mayville State University. We’d love to have you join us any time!