Donald Day to present Feb. 24 Honors Council lecture

BEMIDJI, Minn. — Dr. Donald Day, director of Bemidji State University’s American Indian Resource Center, will present an Honors Council Lecture entitled “The Road Less Traveled” on Tuesday, Feb. 24. The lecture, which is free to the public, will be held at 7 p.m. in Hagg-Sauer 112 on the Bemidji State campus.

Day will discuss the importance of promoting diversity at Bemidji State and throughout society. He will talk about how to stay on the “Red Road,” the road of the warrior, and discuss an American Indian man’s journey living in two worlds. He will present issues on cultural characteristics and competency, and also share some insights on resiliency.

Day, a member of the Martin Clan and an enrolled member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, joined the Bemidji State staff in 2007 after a five-year tenure as president of Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in Cloquet, Minn.

He was twice the director for the American Indian Center at St. Cloud State University, from 1997-99 and from 2001-02, taking a two-year break in between to serve as an assistant professor in the College of Education at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. From 1983-97, he worked at his alma mater, Bemidji State, as the director of Indian Student Services.

Day was named the Outstanding American Indian Administrator of the Year for 2008 at the 24th annual Minnesota Indian Education Conference.

He holds a bachelor of arts degree in social studies with a minor in Indian studies from Bemidji State University, a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Minnesota, Duluth and a doctorate in educational administration from the University of North Dakota.

Day’s presentation is the second of five Honors Council lectures during the spring series, which runs through April 29.

2009 Spring Honors Lecture Series
* Feb. 11: “Perceptual Experience and Physical Theory,” David Lund
* Feb. 24: “The Road Less Traveled,” Donald Day
* March 24: “Walking Machines: A Short History of Legged, Mechanized Locomotion,” Vincent Vohnout
* April 15: “Don’t Stop Talkin’ ‘Bout Freedom: The Censorship of Rock Music in the 1960s and 1970s,” Michael Taylor
* Apri 29: “From the Tomb to the Cathedral: The Roots and Traditions of Orthodox Icon Painting,” Natalia Himmirska

For more information about the Honors Council Lecture Series, please contact the honors program at (218) 755-3984.

FOR YOUR CALENDAR
Feb. 24
– 7 p.m. – Bemidji State University Honors Lecture: “The Road Less Travelend” presented by Dr. Donald Day, executive director, American Indian Resource Center, Bemidji State. Location: Hagg-Sauer 112, Bemidji State campus. Admission: free.