To the Editor:
Friends and colleagues in Cloquet and northeastern Minnesota, I bid you all a fond farewell. It has been an honor and privilege to be the president of Fond du Lac Community College the past five-and-a-half years. Because of your support, Fond du Lac Community College is now an intricate social, cultural, educational and economic player in northeastern Minnesota.
Over the past five-and-a-half years, Fond du Lac Community College has realized a 93 percent student enrollment growth; added more academic degree programs; created intercollegiate sports offerings; opened an Adult Basic Education office; opened a Veterans Affairs Office; created an art gallery; created a business incubator to help community folk start their own businesses; secured grants to train or re-train business employees in Cloquet; signed articulation agreements with a variety of four-year colleges; created a President's Merit Scholarship Program; secured a nursing program; and secured funds to construct a Culture/Recreation Center and a new library. Faculty, staff and students have won numerous state and national awards.
As of July 1, 2008, I am the new executive director of the American Indian Resource Center at Bemidji State University. Most of my family lives in Bemidji, Cass Lake, Walker and Onigum. Most of the ceremonies my wife and I attend are at Leech Lake. My wife and I already own a home on the shores of Leech Lake. In a sense, this transition is like going home.
I have made many friends here over the years and I will miss you all. Please continue to support the college, it is an awesome institution. There is no word for good-bye in Ojibwe. We just say "gaagawaabamin miinnawaa," which means "I will see you again."
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Farewell, Don Day
