On Wednesday, October 8, during its Homecoming Week, the University of Mary crowned Theodore Paul Kariuki King and Anna Havelka Queen in a coronation event at Founders Hall. That ceremony capped a record-breaking Day of Service, during which 1,502 volunteers — students, faculty, and staff — descended on Bismarck, Mandan, and surrounding areas to aid 76 organizations in a broad display of community care.
Classes were canceled campus-wide to allow full participation, making North Dakota’s largest one-day volunteer event an integral part of Homecoming.
The Day of Service has grown into a signature Mary tradition. What began as a modest volunteer effort now claims the title of the largest one-day volunteer event in state history.
Participation was not limited to Bismarck. Projects rolled out in Mandan, Fort Yates, even to Mary’s satellite campuses in Rome and Arizona.
Local nonprofits in Bismarck and Mandan welcomed the boost: volunteers cleaned, painted, landscaped, served meals, and helped behind the scenes at dozens of service sites including Papa’s Pumpkin Patch, the Salvation Army, Dakota Zoo, and Stepping Stone Ministry.
For Bismarck residents, this meant seeing Mary students in action nearby — restoring parks, assisting shelters, enhancing public spaces. The boundary between campus and city blurred as students became neighbors in service.
“When more than 600 people enter an auditorium holding candles before Mass and then go out to serve, that light transcends the building — that’s the heart of Mary.” — Ava Yurczyk, senior coordinator of Day of Service
The University of Mary’s Homecoming & Day of Service blend celebration with action. For Bismarck locals, this weekend brought both pageantry and visible impact: cleaner public spaces, energized nonprofits, and new connections forged between campus and city.
As Theodore Paul Kariuki and Anna Havelka take up their reign, their coronation rings true — not just as a campus milestone, but as a local testament: leadership in Mary’s mold means stepping into Bismarck streets, sleeves rolled up, and walking side by side with the community.
