March 2020

Northern Michigan University's Forest Roberts Theatre will postpone its production of Cats and cancel its summer North Coast Theatre Festival in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Northern Michigan University director of theater William Digneit received the Dr. Dawn Gallup Honor Recipient Award on March 5 from the Michigan Council for Exceptional Children. Digneit was honored for his efforts to create sensory-friendly productions of shows produced by the NMU Theatre and Dance department in partnership with the Theatre Development Fund (TDF) in New York City.

The Hobey Baker Memorial Award Foundation announced March 9 that its 2020 Legend of College Hockey recipient is Rick Comley, the first and longest-serving head coach of NMU's program. He spent 26 years behind the Wildcat bench and guided NMU to the 1991 NCAA Division I Championship. The rink in the Berry Events Center is named in his honor.

The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center at Northern Michigan University will present "Where the men are men and the women are, too: stereotypes of the Yooper." The free talk by Finlandia University professor Hilary-Joy Virtanen will begin at 7 p.m. Monday, March 16, in 1320 Jamrich Hall.

David Harbour, the versatile actor best known for his role as Chief Jim Hopper on Netflix's "Stranger Things," will give a presentation at Northern Michigan University on Tuesday, March 17. 

Northern Michigan University English professor Marek Haltof's book, “Screening Auschwitz: Wanda Jakubowska's ‘The Last Stage' and the Politics of Commemoration” has received the Wadclaw Lednicki Humanities Award from the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America (PIASA). 

Climate scientist Steve Ackerman of the University of Wisconsin-Madison will present "The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald: The Ship, the Song and the Storm" at Northern Michigan University. 

NMU is preparing for the June 1 conversion from PeopleAdmin to PageUp, a new talent management system that offers an expansive suite of modules related to employee recruitment, onboarding and performance. Human Resources will offer a sneak peek of PageUp at its New Automation Open House for NMU staff and faculty from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, in Cohodas 109.

NMU senior Jessica Parsons, an English/writing major from Clarkston, Mich., wrote a feature story on Marquette Mountain general manager Andrew Farron for MyNorth.com, the online home of "Traverse, Northern Michigan's Magazine." Parsons also writes columns for "The North Wind." Read her profile of Farron here. 

The escalating COVID-19 coronavirus situation has led Northern to restrict university-sanctioned travel to any countries issued Level 3 or higher travel warnings by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and/or the U.S. Department of State. These currently include China, Iran, Italy and South Korea.