Moorhead Honors President Craft

Moorhead Mayor Shelly Carlson and President William Craft

To mark President Craft’s service to the community, Moorhead Mayor Shelly Carlson and the City Council announced May 7, 2023, as “Dr. William Craft Day.” An official proclamation was made during the City Council meeting on April 24.

The honor comes as Craft is set to retire at the end of June after serving 12 years as Concordia’s president.

The proclamation states that Craft’s many accomplishments at Concordia “will enhance Moorhead’s higher education opportunities in perpetuity” and makes special note of Resilient Moorhead, a Concordia-initiated network focused on advancing community resilience in Moorhead by facilitating collaborative ecosystem health and social equity initiatives.

“Thank you, Dr. Craft, for being a tireless proponent for both higher education and the City of Moorhead,” Carlson said.

In thanking them for the recognition, Craft told the council members how proud he is to be part of a community that works with “professional care, imagination, and foresight to continue to make this a place that people want to come to, to learn in, to work in, and to live in.”

He also shared how grateful he was for city officials and residents who have engaged Concordia students in the art of public life.

“Our campus is on the corner of 8th (Street) and 12th (Avenue), but our campus is also this town,” Craft said. “For what they have learned from you, thank you for being their teachers. Thank you for being their mentors. Thank you for making them understand that their lives as citizens have already begun.”

Watch the presentation here beginning at 20 minutes.

In addition to celebrating graduates during the college’s Commencement ceremony on May 7, for those looking to mark “Dr. William Craft Day,” he offers the following suggestions:

  • Start a book.
  • Learn a Shakespeare sonnet.
  • Wear maroon and gold.
  • Develop a mad passion for cycling.
  • Sing with your friends.
  • Welcome a stranger.
  • Thank your teachers.
  • Develop a mad passion for soccer.
  • Walk under the Dovre Campanile.
  • Give me a C (O,N,C,O,R,D,I,A).
  • Read to Cobber Kids.
  • Thank a cook, coach, carpenter, counselor — anyone who makes Concordia go.
  • Love your neighbor; love God’s whole creation; save the world.