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UND President Robert Kelley’s State of the University Address hits on key points, talks exceptionalism.

Tuesday, UND President Robert Kelley stood in front of school representatives and members of the media to tell them all the university is doing just fine.

Actually, he may have said “Exceptionally.”

Be that as it may, Kelley stood up and told the university just how fantastic we all are — for everything from our ability to raise funds and get reaccredited to the fact that officials are about to get really serious about fixing the Campus Road Bridge.

And now, we, The Dakota Student editorial board, would like to do the same.

First off: Kudos, UND. You have managed to be slightly less of a popsicle in the arctic. We have been able to walk to class without our boots freezing to the ground — something that was no guarantee last year. What the administration is doing and saying doesn’t really impact the weather, but we’ll give it to them.

Second, we’re sure many students were shocked to hear about the school firing the football coach — mainly because many students were probably unaware that UND had a football team to coach. Chris Mussman might be a nice guy, but nice guys don’t win football games, and it’s easier to get rowdy at the post-game when our boys on the gridiron aren’t getting totally pummeled.

One thing we can bring our hands together for is the university’s stand against the radicals in Student Government. It’s not like student senators are just a bunch of broke college kids looking for some guarantee that the price they pay to sit in classes won’t skyrocket while the school spends millions on another bragging point — here’s looking at you, Gorecki Alumni Center. No big deal.

You go, UND — no guarantees. You’re keeping life interesting for us, just like life in the ever-aging residence halls. Smith Hall may be showing a bit — a lot — of wear from year after year of rowdy Friday nights and the following hungover Saturday mornings. And freshmen looking for lodging may be crammed into every spare closet on campus, but they say variety is the spice of life. Chalk it all up to the first-year experience and sleep easy — or at least easier than the aforementioned freshmen.

But, in all honesty, UND, you’re not doing half bad. Students are still enrolling, graduating and jumping through hoops on their way to being productive members of society. Maybe we’re on our way to being exceptional after all.