Northern Michigan University 2017 outdoor recreation leadership and management graduate Samantha LaLonde was named Rookie of the Year at the 2025 Iditarod race in Alaska. She recorded the best time by a first-time musher, completing the longest route in Iditarod history—1,128 miles—in 15th place. 

Lexi Hagan, a 2024 Northern Michigan University business management alumna and one of the first NMU Rural Leadership Fellowship Program participants, is the new executive director of the Menominee Business Development Corporation. Her role is to attract new businesses to the area, retain existing businesses, and help them identify available grant opportunities.

Northern Michigan University's Platform Personalities will host "An Evening with Rachel Dratch." The multifaceted comedian, actress and writer is perhaps best known for her seven-year run on "Saturday Night Live," where she created many memorable characters, including Debbie Downer. She will participate in a conversation at 7 p.m. Monday, March 31, in the Northern Center Grand Ballroom. Admission is free for NMU students with ID and $5 for the general public.

Eleven students from NMU Theater and Dance recently attended the U.S. Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) annual conference and stage expo in Columbus, Ohio. Four of the students were selected as conference assistants, and one presented a poster presentation.

Northern Michigan University students at Radio X (WUPX-FM) will broadcast an all-day NMU 125th Anniversary Alumni Show from 6 a.m. to midnight Saturday, March 22. Radio X alumni are scheduled to guest-DJ radio shows, and there will be interviews with other alumni. Radio X announcements from the past will air, and students will present NMU history moments that they have researched in the NMU Archives.