A Home for Student-Athletes

When Ben Ellefson (Class of 2020, Sports Management) came to NDSU to play football, he knew it was a great opportunity, but he didn’t realize just how much support he would have as a student-athlete. “The constant support we get from the community is what really sets us apart from other schools,” Ben says. As the weather gets colder, he says having an indoor practice facility is crucial to the team’s success: “We practice or train almost every day, so having spaces that support that regimen, no matter the outdoor conditions, helps us keep getting better.”

Ben Ellefson, Sports Management (no. 82)

Margaret and her husband, Hugh Veit ’79, established the Eleanor S. Fitzgerald Memorial Graduate Student Scholarship to support NDSU students earning advanced degrees in the Department of Health, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences or the Department of Human Development and Family Science.

Core areas of home economics remain part of current NDSU degree programs such as accounting; apparel, retail merchandising, and design; education; family and consumer science; financial planning; human development and family science; interior design; and nutrition science.

Home economics programs opened doors, particularly for women, to earn college degrees and pursue careers in education, Extension, state and federal government, business and industry, health care, and more. NDAC listed domestic economy as one of its courses in its founding year, 1890.

Established by Dr. Teresa Conner, dean of the NDSU College of Health and Human Sciences, and co-chaired by Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald ’83 and Col. Esther Meyers ’75, the Wisdom Keepers provide support and share their knowledge and expertise with students, faculty, staff, and leadership in the College.

The home management house at NDAC was the first facility built on a college campus specifically for home management practice. In 1954, it was named in honor of Alba Bales, the first female academic dean at NDAC.