Concordia College had their first “normal” orientation after two years of having COVID restrictions. This year’s orientation was the closest it could get to normal while still following rules and safety to combat COVID-19. 

The orientation committee worked many hours training and preparing for this year’s eventful week. Eh Lar is this year’s chair for orientation and his goal was to make orientation an inclusive space for new students. “I wanted everyone to feel like they belonged in their club and at the college,” said Lar. 

“The job is mostly paperwork and getting in touch with places on campus and in the community,” said Lar.  

Orientation starts a few hours after the new students move into their dorms. Students meet their roommates and start unpacking. After that, the new Cobbers and their families are invited to join President Craft and orientation crew for the Blessing of the Journey. The new students receive their beanies– gold for freshmen and maroon for transfers.  Families say goodbye to their new college students and the students themselves have some wellness time before gathering with their orientation clubs.  

The freshmen join their orientation club and meet the rest of their “clubbies.” These will be the people they spend most of their time with before their first day of class. Clubbies also share an inquiry seminar, so they will continue to see one another throughout their first semester at Concordia. They also have two club leaders that are made up of current Cobbers.  

Noah Jeppesen is a current Concordia student who decided to be a part of orientation this year. He is an orientation club leader and First Year Transition mentor. A First Year Transition mentor is a club leader that holds a “class” with the club once every few weeks talking about Concordia and giving resources and help to the new students.  

“I wanted to have a role that would allow me to connect with new and incoming students, while also being able to maintain the new friendships throughout the school year,” said Jeppesen.  

They play icebreakers and go over some basic college rules and resources after forming their group somewhere on campus.  

Over the next few days, the clubs gather and participate in many more campus events. A big orientation activity is Hands for Change. Each club volunteers at a place either on campus or around the Fargo-Moorhead area. Cob Hob Nob is also a hit and gives the students a fun break to do some interests and meet some of the clubs on campus. 

In 2020, Hob Nob and Hands for Change had to be combined and there weren’t as many activities as possible to participate in due to COVID restrictions. Most of the students that participated in 2020 orientation feel like they missed out on all the fun festivities orientation week has to offer. 

“I know the orientation team did their best with the situation presented my freshman year, but I thought this year had a lot more going on and was just more fun. I remember taking a lot more breaks during my orientation than how it was this year. I also really enjoyed all of the social interaction that I got during this orientation, which is something I didn’t get all that much of freshman year,” said Jeppesen.  

This year, Hands for Change was able to go on the road. Last year in 2021, there were a couple of clubs that got to go out into the community, but many could not and had to find a way to participate in this part of the week somewhere on campus.  

Most of the clubs went off campus. Some walked to places like the Rourke art Museum and the Moorhead Public Library to help with some cleaning. Other clubs had to take vans and buses to their location like Hope Blooms to make bouquets and the Red River Zoo to do some simple landscaping.  

The Cob Hob Nob was a big success this year with the campus buzzing with freshmen. North campus was filled with tables and different activities that showcased some of the clubs on campus. There were yard games, tapestry weaving, and potting plants.  

 In 2020, there were only a handful of things to do during Hob Nob. The one that was the most popular and more hands on was painting rocks which collaborated with the Hands for Change portion of the week as well. The painted rocks were to go to Sanford and line the sidewalks of the hospital.   

Orientation week ends on the first day of classes, which is a Thursday. Convocation happens in the morning. Professors dress in their graduate attire and attend to greet all the new students and send them off on this new school year. 

After convocation is the beanie toss. This year was the 100th anniversary of the beanie toss. It was also President Craft’s last year doing it. 

In 2020, Convocation did not happen in this traditional sense. The beanie toss also looked different due to social distancing. Each club went to their main meeting place and were told to throw their beanie with just their club rather than the whole class like years before.  

On the count of three, yelled by President Craft and Lar, the freshmen throw up their beanies like they will in four years with their graduation caps. Yellow beanies fly through the air, beginning the new and “normal” school year.  

It is the 100th homecoming of Concordia College. With the pandemic hurting last year’s traditional homecoming festivities, Cobbers around campus are buzzing with excitement with this year’s activities being as normal as they possibly can be.

The Centrum was decorated with gold and maroon streamers and flowers to match. The Concordia Jazz Combo played the prelude before the coronation event. Students, faculty and friends and family of the homecoming court filled up the room.

The room gets quiet. Eric Johnson, Director of Alumni Relations, steps up to the microphone giving the introduction to coronation. 

“We have had rain-coming, snow-coming and no-coming,” said Johnson. “We have had hard times that go from weather to pandemics to politics to the basic hardships of being a college student.”

Johnson said that the things and events we do during homecoming week demonstrate the community and connectedness that Concordia has.

Carrie Voss, the Homecoming Committee Chair, gave a few words before the presentation of the homecoming court. She explained how excited she is to be able to have the traditional homecoming events come back this year.

Before the coronation, the homecoming court could be found in the upper level of the Knutson Center getting ready and meeting with their escorts.

Women are seen in all black dresses plus one jumpsuit while the men sported black tuxedos. 

For the women, a favorite place to get a dress was Amazon. For the men, they seemed to have a tux ready to go. A few of them even admitted that they were wearing their tux they wore to their prom in high school.

“My suit is from Men’s Warehouse but it is the one I wore to my high school prom,” said Kyle Little.

All of the homecoming court felt honored and even a little surprised they were there.

“It is honestly a huge honor and a bit of a surprise. I did not think I would be nominated at all so a huge thank you to my fellow Cobbers,” said Vanessa Petrich. 

After the presentation of the homecoming court, words of wisdom were given to them by last year’s homecoming queens, Erin Grabinger and Jessica Skindelien. Following them was a musical performance given by the jazz combo.

The moment people had been waiting for had finally arrived. The crowning of the 2021 homecoming royalty.

The king is Lance Morlock who was escorted by Cindy Larson-Casselton and the queen is Heather Ukaonu who was escorted by Michelle M. Lelwica.

“It feels very good and I feel very honored. My cheeks hurt so much from smiling,” said Ukaonu.

“The Hymn to Concordia” was sung by everyone with pictures and hugs to follow after the ceremony while the jazz combo played the recessional.

“I feel so honored and blessed to be chosen by the student body. There are so many people on campus that embody what Concordia is all about and I just feel so blessed to be chosen by Concordia,” said Morlock. 

Coronation kicked off the rest of the campus homecoming events throughout the week that have been tradition to Concordia for many years.

 

A farmer walks into the Moorhead Tractor Supply Company.

“Do y’all sell any horse dewormer?” he asks the cashier.

The cashier sighs, having been asked too many times.

“Yes sir, we do. Follow me,” she says.

The cashier, Sandy Scheiden, leads the farmer to the locked case of horse dewormers. Before she unlocks the case, she reads the farmer the sign they have posted below the case. 

It reads, “Animal products containing ivermectin SHOULD NOT be used in people. These products can cause serious health effects, including death.” 

The sign continues that ivermectin has not been shown to be a safe way in preventing or curing COVID-19. It also says if one is concerned about COVID-19, they should consult their doctor. At the bottom, there are two QR codes to find more information. 

Ivermectin is the drug people want. It is commonly found in livestock dewormer which is easier for people to get ahold of rather than asking their doctor for a prescription

People are able to take ivermectin for lice, scabies and other types of parasites but in small doses compared to the dose that is found in the livestock dewormers, which is around 10 to 15 times larger than the normal human dosage. The drug is made for a 1,000 pound animal compared to that of an average human of 134 pounds.

“I wonder about the people who come in asking for the horse dewormer and openly say they need it for themselves. They don’t understand how crazy they sound,” said Scheiden. “I feel bad for them but at the same time, I laugh at them.”

Some days she says that more than one person comes in asking for the dewormer and sometimes they can go a week without anyone asking.

The population that seems to be asking for it the most is the older generation, around 60 to 80 years old. Smaller towns and rural areas are seeing the most of it, considering it is easier to access farm supply stores. 

At Tractor Supply, they have the dewormer in locked cases with a warning sign. Seven miles away, a Fleet Farm in Fargo sells livestock dewormer without the locked cases. It is rather easy for a person to grab and purchase. There is a sign similar to the one at Tractor Supply warning about the consumption of the product.

Something the two stores have in common, however, is that the shelves for the dewormers are practically empty.

“I know people are buying it and I have heard about it but I have only had to deal with one customer regarding her wanting to use the dewormer on herself,” says Conner, a sales associate at Fleet Farm. 

Conner went on to explain that the woman read the sign and then became worried about consuming the product, not knowing it could cause such harm. She had heard about consuming it to combat COVID-19 through friends at church. 

The Food and Drug Administration has even tweeted about this phenomenon of human consumption of livestock dewormer. 

“You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it,” tweeted the FDA.

The tweet had a link along with it that redirects one to their website regarding why no one should use ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19. 

The FDA has not approved ivermectin to be used in the treatment of COVID-19. There have been studies conducted to see if ivermectin could be used to help combat COVID-19. Fourteen studies have been conducted and concluded that no provided evidence of the drug shows any ability to prevent COVID-19, reduce conditions or morality. There are still 31 underway testing ivermectin. 

Scheiden opens the case and the farmer takes a look at what is left. 

“Looks like all the crazies took most of it,” said the farmer.

Scheiden lets out a breath of relief, grateful that the farmer is using it for the actual purpose and not for himself. 

The farmer makes his purchase and heads off with his four boxes of horse dewormer that are all different brands due to the choices that were left for him.