“When we chain and confine all our wild country, eliminate the free-roaming animal life,
then there will be no space left for that last wild thing, the free human spirit.”
Ray Dasmann, “Called by the Wild: The Autobiography of a Conservationist”
Nebraska’s landlocked status belies a deep connection to water. The Nebraska state name comes from a Sioux word meaning “shallow water” or “broad water” — a description of the Platte River that stretches across the plains. And, throughout the state, nearly 80,000 miles of rivers and streams drain to the Missouri River, the nation’s longest river that forms the eastern border of Nebraska. Reflecting an effort to preserve these rivers, 197 miles of the Niobrara and Missouri Rivers are designated as wild and scenic.
PROTECTING OUR FUTURE
In a changing climate and amidst rapid human consumption, it is more important than ever to pursue sustainable water practices while cultivating wilderness. The Dodge, Scott and Center campuses at the University of Nebraska at Omaha are situated in the Little Papillion Creek watershed, making water and sustainable sites vital to the health and progress of the university. UNO aims to fully integrate sustainability into the university, creating a culture of concern for the environment. This shift will occur through sustainability initiatives, such as those concerning water conservation, but it will also occur in the classroom. By asking students to creatively engage with conservation, UNO will help cultivate a connected and concerned community.
HARNESSING THE POWER OF ART
On behalf of UNO, the University of Nebraska Foundation requests your consideration of a $25,000 gift to establish a short film project exploring BeWildReWild’s mission through the Writer’s Workshop at the College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media. Through this project, students will have the opportunity to engage in creative scriptwriting and short film production.
With this support, UNO faculty, students and community members will engage in a yearlong project in which students script and produce two short films responding to BeWildReWild’s three guiding questions:
- What do you/we mean by wild?
- What changes are needed for us to live within the bounds of sustainability?
- How can we create a wilder, more beautiful, more biologically diverse and a more enduring Mississippi River Watershed?
The short scripts written by students in the Writer’s Workshop will be judged by a panel with one script selected for production each semester — two each year. The winning scripts will be developed into short films approximately eight to 12 minutes long. The films will be screened at the Benson Theater at no cost to the public in summer 2025 in a public showcase with a panel discussion and Q&A afterwards. In addition, a short auxiliary documentary film will be created to document the entire process of bringing the project from inception to production. Pending writers’ clearances, UNO will share the films with BeWildReWild for its use.
In year one, the project will be led though the UNO Writer’s Workshop with additional collaborative partnerships still to be determined. At the completion of year one, stakeholders will discuss successes and opportunities in order to determine the future direction of the project and identify new partnerships for subsequent phases.
INVESTING IN OUR SHARED VISION
Thank you for your consideration of this gift. With your support, UNO will make great strides toward creating a healthy and sustainable future in Nebraska and beyond.