Dragon Stories

Iraq Veteran Ally Kester feels at home at MSUM after transitioning from military service and transitioning her gender.

A family heritage of service spurred Joaquin Watson to join the U.S. Army. Now he’s the president of the Dragon Student Veterans Club.

Heidi King supports military-connected students as the student relations coordinator for MSUM’s College of Arts and Humanities and as a volunteer on the campus’ Veterans Service Committee. 

MSU Moorhead has launched Dragon VALOR, a Veteran Ally Organization that strives to elevate student Veterans’ academic success.  

Air Force member has balanced being on active duty and getting two master’s degrees at MSU Moorhead. 

Alli Belfiori is the Yellow Ribbon advanced digital marketing specialist for marketing & communications and the grants & sponsored programs offices. 

Meet Josh Clarke, the new Veterans Resource Outreach Director at MSU Moorhead. Josh is the university-wide contact for Veterans Service and leads new enrollment and retention strategies for Veterans and military-connected students and their families.

Today we honor Wendy Gibson, an MSUM employee who served nine years in the United States Army. 

We honor Parker Wood, a senior at MSUM studying elementary education. He will soon begin service with the North Dakota Air National Guard.

Today we honor veteran Molly Johnson, a senior at MSUM studying ecology and evolutionary biology with a geospatial analysis emphasis. Molly is from Moorhead and was inspired to join the military through her family, as many of them also served. Her sister Heidi was in the army band prior to moving to Colorado and her other sister Ali served as an Air Force medic. Molly’s mom worked as a social worker for soldiers at the armory in Fargo and her father is captain of the Fargo Fire Department. 

Today we honor veteran Justin Kester, a first-year computer science student at MSUM. Justin’s experience in the military lent a hand in determining their major in school.  

Today we honor Jonathan Bauer, a second-year animation major at MSUM. He is originally from Montgomery, Minn. Jonathan served in the Army for three and a half years in active duty as a wheeled vehicle mechanic and wrecker operator. He first served in Camp Casey, South Korea, then in Fort Drum, New York.