This week’s Hotline! includes the following articles:

• President's Column: Montecuollo shares powerful message
• President Mason selected for Fort Hays State University presidency
• There is still time to join V-500!
• Brown bag at the Valley City Public Library Nov. 9
• Viking Sports Update
• What’s happening at VCSU and around Valley City…

The VCSU Hotline! online newsletter is published every Monday during the academic year. Deadline to submit articles (photos encouraged) is 3 p.m. the Friday before publication.

President's Column: Montecuollo shares powerful message

Talent. Passion. Faith journey. These words describe the personal passage of VCSU sophomore Sarah Montecuollo, the winner of the VCSU 2017 Homecoming talent show and a VCSU Difference Maker. Sarah has combined her life’s passion for bringing music to the deaf community with her education at VCSU. Sarah is a music education major, and through our collaborative education program with Lake Region State College, she is supplementing her music education degree with a certificate in American sign language and interpreting. Sarah takes her signing classes from Lake Region right here on the VCSU campus.

Sarah’s talent has been shared with and appreciated by many of her friends and family. It is moving to watch her sign to music—so moving, in fact, that it earned her first place in the talent show as she signed with great energy and confidence. For her performance, Sarah stood next to a large screen that depicted a collection of images she arranged from the Las Vegas shooting, Hurricane Harvey, and school lockdowns/shootings, as she signed to the song “Bleed the Same.”

Through her performance, Sarah wanted to bring home the fact that our country continues to be divided over issues such as skin color, gender, religion, and politics. She called on our community to put away our differences and come together. Quoting Jason Aldean, she shared, “At the end of the day we aren’t Democrats or Republicans, whites or blacks, men or women. We are all humans and we are all Americans and it’s time to start acting like it and stand together as one!” At the end of the video, she delivered a call to action to make a difference by helping to bring the country together. (The link to her performance can be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMPh4xrVMDQ.)

Not only did the audience and judges respond enthusiastically, so did the singer Mandisa. Shortly after the contest, Sarah was moved to post the video and sent the link to Mandisa’s manager. Mandisa replied directly to Sarah: “Well now I’m crying Sweet Sarah…I am so honored and so incredibly blessed watching this. You are amazing. Thank you!”

Sarah’s passion for signing was evident in the performance, as it is in her life. I asked Sarah how she became so intrigued with sign language. As she was preparing for college, she realized she needed to take a foreign language to qualify for the North Dakota state scholarship. One option was American sign language. She was immediately drawn to this option as she felt it would be both physical and impactful. She was right.

Her skills are not only bringing awareness to the hearing community and inclusiveness to the deaf community, but she is also helping her family members and father communicate through sign language as he slowly loses his hearing. Some might consider this a lucky coincidence, but Sarah believes it’s part of her faith journey.

Sarah describes herself as a person of strong faith. She particularly loves to sign Christian songs, sharing messages of strength, forgiveness, hope, and love. She believes that God has given her a gift to help our world become a better place. Before taking the stage, she prayed for strength and the ability to impact many with her message. She was particularly anxious that evening as she was recovering from a fall from a horse which had resulted in a concussion, broken wrist, and injured hip. As she prepared to take the stage, she slipped off her wrist brace, placed her performance in God’s hands, and confidently and masterfully touched the hearts of her audience.

Talent. Passion. Faith journey. I am so proud of you, Sarah Montecoullo. You are indeed a Difference Maker, and you are a significant reason why it is a great day to be a Viking!

President Mason selected for Fort Hays State University presidency

On Friday, Nov. 3, VCSU President Tisa Mason was selected as the next president of Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas.

To read the full release, see www.vcsu.edu/news/news.htm?id=10589.

There is still time to join V-500!

Our V-500 Scholarship Campaign is ongoing. We have reached the $36,000 mark on our way to $90,000. We need your help. If you are a V-500 member, thank you for your support. If you are not, please consider becoming a member. All gifts help, no matter the size. Stop by the VCSU Foundation Office today. You can help us reach our goal!

Brown bag at the Valley City Public Library Nov. 9

"Keeping All the Pieces," a short film on the impacts of oil and gas exploration in public lands in western North Dakota, will be shown at the Valley City Public Library on Nov. 9, at noon. The event is free and open to the public.

Representatives from the North Dakota Wildlife Federation and the Badlands Conservation Alliance will lead a discussion following the 15-minute video. The lands discussed in the film include the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the 1-million-acre Little Missouri National Grassland. The goal of the film is to increase public awareness, counter misinformation and facilitate firsthand experience with this iconic landscape that belongs to all North Dakotans, and, indeed, the nation. The questions raised include: Can we keep our wildlife heritage? Can we keep all the essential pieces intact for decades down the road?

This event is sponsored by “What In the World Is Going On?” a campus-community group jointly sponsored by VCSU science and social science departments. For more information call, 701-845-7321.

Viking sports update

Football
Saturday: VCSU 40, University of Jamestown 14
The Valley City State football team scored four touchdowns in the first six minutes Saturday as they defeated rival University of Jamestown 40-14. VCSU ends the season with a 5-5 overall record and a 4-4 mark in the North Star Athletic Association.

Volleyball
Wednesday: VCSU 3, Mayville State 2
Friday: Jamestown 3, VCSU 0
Saturday: VCSU 3, Dickinson State 2
The Viking volleyball team ended the season with a 2-1 record last week. VCSU is now 15-12 overall and 9-7 in conference play. It is the first time the Viking volleyball team has finished with an overall winning record since 2006. VCSU is the No. 4 seed for the NSAA Conference Tournament and will play No. 5 seed Presentation College on Friday at 12:30 p.m. The six-team tournament is being played at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.

Cross Country
VCSU junior Grace Miller raced to third place at the NSAA Championships on Friday in Jamestown as she qualified for the NAIA National Championships. The Viking women took third place as a team, while the Viking men placed second. On the men’s side, Dennis Gonzalez placed eighth to lead VCSU. Both Miller and Gonzalez were named all-conference. The top team and top four individuals all advanced to the NAIA Championships. Miller will compete Nov. 18 in Vancouver, Wash.

Women’s Basketball
Friday: VCSU 87, Johnson & Wales 71
Saturday: VCSU 69, Warner University 53
The VCSU women’s basketball team remained perfect with a pair of victories this weekend in Florida. Valley City State is now 3-0 to start the season. The Vikings play an exhibition game Nov. 10 at St. Cloud State.

Men’s Basketball
Tuesday: Peru State 87, VCSU 63
Friday: VCSU 85, Dordt College 82
Saturday: Northwestern College 100, VCSU 72
The Viking men’s basketball team went 1-2 this week against a trio of tough opponents. VCSU is now 2-3 to start the season. VCSU plays an exhibition game Monday night at MSU-Moorhead.

Upcoming Events
Nov. 6: MBB @ MSU-Moorhead, 7 p.m. (exhibition)
Nov. 10: Volleyball @ NSAA Tournament vs. Presentation College, 12:30 p.m. (La Crosse, Wis.)
Nov. 10: WBB @ St. Cloud State, 7 p.m. (exhibition)
Nov. 11: Volleyball @ NSAA Tournament
Nov. 11: WBB @ Bemidji State, 4 p.m. (exhibition)

What's happening at VCSU and around Valley City...

Monday, November 6
4 p.m. Farmers Market, Shopko parking lot
5-7 p.m. Free will donation spaghetti feed to benefit the Valley City American Legion and Babe Ruth baseball teams, Eagles Club
7 p.m. Viking men's basketball @ MSU-Moorhead (exhibition)
7:30 p.m. Faculty Recital, Nick Meyers and Kenneth Jimenez, Froemke Auditorium

Tuesday, November 7
11 a.m. General student recital, Froemke Auditorium
12:05 p.m. Rotary, VFW

Wednesday, November 8
noon Kiwanis, Valley City Town & Country Club

Thursday, November 9
7 a.m. Optimists, Vicky’s Viking Room
noon Toastmasters, VCSU Norway Room
noon "Keeping All the Pieces," sponsored by What in the World is Going On?, Valley City Barnes County Public Library
4 p.m. Farmers Market, Shopko parking lot
8:30–10:30 p.m. Vikings for Christ, Student Center Skoal Room

Friday, November 10
12:30 p.m. Volleyball @ NSAA Tournament vs. Presentation College, La Crosse, Wis.
7 p.m. Viking women's basketball @ St. Cloud State (exhibition)

Saturday, November 11
Ladies Day and Holiday Jump-Start, downtown and around Valley City
Volleyball @ NSAA Tournament
4 p.m. Viking women's basketball @ Bemidji State (exhibition)

Sunday, November 12
Ladies Day and Holiday Jump-Start, downtown and around Valley City

Monday, November 13

Tuesday, November 14
12:05 p.m. Rotary, VFW

Wednesday, November 15
Payday
noon Kiwanis, Valley City Town & Country Club

Thursday, November 16
7 a.m. Optimists, Vicky’s Viking Room
noon Toastmasters, VCSU Norway Room
8:30–10:30 p.m. Vikings for Christ, Student Center Skoal Room

Friday, November 17

Saturday, November 18
9 a.m.–4 p.m. Christmas boutique vendor, craft show and silent auction, Eagles Club
10 a.m.–5 p.m. Junk in the Valley, ND Winter Show Event Center

Sunday, November 19

Go to www.valleycitynd.org/calendar.php to see more events happening in and around Valley City.