North Dakota Girls and Boys State Programs Teach Civic Duty
By Elizabeth Erickson Narain
As lawyers, we frequently navigate a space between the government and the average layperson. Some of these lay people are very familiar with how the government functions, but too many are unaware. Each year, the American Legion and the Auxiliary combat this ignorance by hosting Boys and Girls State in each of the 50 states. For one week, students who have just completed their junior year of high school gather to get hands-on experience by setting up a state government and running for office. Each year in June, the Auxiliary hosts Girls State at the University of North Dakota( UND), while the Legion presents Boys State at North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton. This new state is loosely based on North Dakota, but the students are encouraged to be creative while governing.
Students – called delegates – can run for office at city, county, and state levels after campaigning on the problems they see in their lives and the world. Delegates not only campaign for office, but after the election, they pass ordinances after hearing public comment, run a legislature, advocate during mock trial and moot court, and balance a statewide budget. Delegates even have the opportunity to write platforms for their political parties – Nationalists and Federalists – which they amend and approve at political conventions. If a delegate disagrees with their party’ s platform, they can circulate a petition to run as an independent candidate as well. This year, two girls ran as independents – one for governor and the other for tax commissioner.
At Girls State, the delegates are prepared by first having Dr. Dana Harsell of UND give a college lecture about each level of government – city, county, and state. Students are also introduced to parliamentary procedure and
North Dakota Boys State 2025 how it helps maintain order during meetings. These introductory courses assume participants have no background in government or its procedures so everyone has at least the same basic introduction before functions begin. Because every level of government is filled – not just the judicial branch – Flickertail Girls State produces leaders not only interested in law, but interested in everything the society needs – agriculture, education, health, and more.
At the end of the week, two students are selected from Boys State and two from Girls State to represent North Dakota as senators at Boys Nation and Girls Nation. North Dakota’ s four senators join 196 students from across the country in Washington, D. C., to pass legislation, run for president, and learn about federal governmental functioning. They meet with their state’ s senators and representatives while exploring the nation’ s capital city. Girls and Boys Nation senators can come from anywhere and can be anyone. This year, the Girls Nation senators included the governor from Fargo and a young woman from New Town who served as an appellate attorney before the Supreme Court.
A Launchpad to the Future
Calling Boys and Girls State mere“ programs,” however, isn’ t fair. As Lt. Governor Michelle Strinden said in her opening address to 2025 Flickertail Girls State:“ This isn’ t just a program – it’ s a launchpad to your future.”
When I first attended Girls State as a junior in 2015, I had no idea how true this statement would be for my own life. Back then, I sat in the front seat of my dad’ s car sporting an exceptionally bad adolescent attitude as he drove me from Fargo to UND. Despite being interested in following his footsteps into the legal field, the idea of“ government camp” could not sound less appealing. In 2025, however, I sat in the front seat of my mom’ s car as we excitedly carpooled the same drive. Ten years
North Dakota Girls State 2025 after the Women in Government panel where Representative Jayme Davis, Sarah Smith, Senator Kirsten Roers, Representative Emily O’ Brien, Senator Claire Cory, Fargo City Commissioner Denise Kolpack, Justice Lisa McEvers, and Senator Kathy Hogan spoke to attendees.
had passed since my parents forced me to go to Girls State, and now I was the Director of Government and my mom was a staff member too.
I’ m not being dramatic when I say Girls State changed my life. There’ s a reason why the staff travels across the country each year to keep the program going. Although I had shown up in 2015 with a bad attitude and little interest in participating, I decided to run for office – mostly so I could prove to my parents that not only had I tried, they had still been wrong. By trying something new, however, I was the person who ended up being proven wrong. I went on to serve as city attorney, then State’ s Attorney, and after losing the Nationalist’ s endorsement for Attorney General, I circulated a petition for Supreme Court, where I eventually served on“ State Functioning” Day. At the end of the week, I accepted the nomination to Girls Nation, competed in the runoff process, and eventually represented North Dakota in Washington, D. C. I still talk regularly with the people who attended Girls State and Nation with me. I ended up going to law school with someone who went to Boys Nation the same year as me. The friendships I made have truly been lifelong.
A Lifechanging Experience
I’ m not the only person who had a lifechanging experience at Girls or Boys
22 THE GAVEL