November 2022

Former NMU student Richard “Duke” Mayo of Cheboygan will spend Veterans Day marking the 40th anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial—also known as The Wall—in Washington, D.C. He is making the trip with the Michigan State Council of the Vietnam Veterans of America. Mayo was a member of the student Vets Club at Northern after his own service in Vietnam. His continued involvement in veterans' organizations and causes earned him a Hometown Hero of the Month award from the Cheboygan County Veterans Subcommittee earlier this year.

Northern Michigan University alumnus Stephen Shepherd has published a new collection of spiritual essays titled Losing the Sound of Your Own Stride. He is also a singer-songwriter whose two most recent albums rose to #1 on the U.S. Roots Music Chart, according to his website. Shepherd is a former voting member of the Recording Academy, which presents the GRAMMY Awards, based on six CDs consisting of 68 original songs.

Northern Michigan University will host a public panel discussion on forceful displacement and immigration titled “Refugees Now: People Over Policy” on Tuesday, Nov. 8.  Guest speaker Dilli Gautam spent 16 years in a Nepal refugee camp and now works with a Bethany Christian Services team helping refugees relocate to West Michigan.

Northern Michigan University student Gwen Feamster, who was selected to serve on the Michigan Department of State's Collegiate Student Task Force, has one goal for everyone this election season: vote. She and other members of the task force have been informing their peers of their voting rights, promoting awareness of the newly redistricted electoral maps, and combating and dispelling election misinformation on college campuses.

An external auditing firm issued a clean opinion—the highest standard—on Northern Michigan University's fiscal year 2021-22 financial statements. The results of the audit by Rehman show that NMU continues to remain in solid financial shape and is well-positioned for the future. The NMU Board of Trustees approved the report and two other agenda items during a brief special meeting held this morning via Zoom.

Northern Michigan University alumna Jess Parker is in the process of writing a children's book, a departure from her previously published award-winning collection of poems titled Star Things. She said she is excited to be able to continue her writing and branch out to other genres.