Around NMU

The Northern Michigan University Foundation has released a five-year impact report on strategic changes implemented to support fundraising for NMU. The report details enhancements in four focus areas that put the NMU Foundation in a better position to secure and manage major gifts to support innovative strides in learning, teaching, programming and operations.

Lori Blaker, recently retired president/CEO of the Bloomfield Hills-based TTi Global and a longtime advocate of gender equality and women's empowerment in the workplace, will serve as the 2021 Executive in Residence for Northern Michigan University's College of Business Oct. 18-21. 

Northern Michigan University alumna Alice Lyn Jasper is committed to diversifying outdoor recreation and environmental advocacy by identifying barriers and opportunities for people of color to develop positive relationships with nature. The Grand Rapids resident produced a related documentary titled "Color Out Here" for WGVU Public Media's "Shaping Narratives" program. She screened it at the Fresh Coast Film Festival in Marquette Oct. 16 and17.

Northern Michigan University's Department of Music will present its NMU Choral Invitational Concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 18, in Reynolds Recital Hall. The performance will feature choir students from Wausaukee middle and high school and Ishpeming and Calumet high schools. Those students will have spent the day visiting NMU's campus and rehearsing with Director of Choirs Erin Colwitz. 

Northern Michigan University Theatre and Dance presents the world premiere stage adaptation of “Above the Timberline,” a visual journey by Gregory Manchess. Show times in Forest Roberts Theatre are 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Oct. 15-16, and Wednesday-Saturday, Oct. 20-23. A sensory-friendly performance is scheduled at 2 p.m. Oct. 16.

The Northern Michigan University Regional Police Academy will host two informational meetings Oct. 27 on the campus of Bay College. They are scheduled at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. in room 221 of the Bonifas Building. The meetings are for those interested in attending NMU's Regional Police Academy, which begins May 2022 and concludes in August 2022.

NMU Alumni Relations will continue Northern Now, its monthly digital event series for alumni and friends, at 7 p.m. EST Wednesday, Oct. 13, with a panel of alumni entrepreneurs in partnership with Invent@NMU. Panelists include Joe Thiel ‘03, CEO at Innovate Marquette SmartZone and executive director of Invent@NMU; Ian Altobello ‘19, founder of The Boreal Collective; and Britta Carlson ‘12, CEO and founder of Med Pros Share.

Northern Michigan University honored Indigenous Peoples' Day Oct. 11 with an unveiling ceremony for a new sign on the academic mall acknowledging that the campus is located on the ancestral homelands of the Anishinaabe Three Fires Confederacy. The event included songs by the Morning Thunder Drum, speakers and a group procession to the Center for Native American Studies' fire site near Whitman Hall.

Former NMU student Lor Sabourin is the subject of Patagonia's latest film series, "They/Them." The film premiered Oct. 6 and follows Sabourin's season-long effort to conquer “Cousin of Death” in Sedona, Ariz. Between footage of working on and redpointing the route, the Detroit native talks about life as a member of the trans climbing community, their outreach work with queer teens, and their ongoing recovery from an eating and exercise disorder.

Northern Michigan University alumni and twin brothers Bill and Pat Digneit received a 2021 Catalyst Award from the Community Foundation of Marquette County as co-owners of the local business, Double Trouble Entertainment. Four Catalyst Awards were presented to individuals, organizations and businesses for helping to "build community through volunteerism or philanthropy and inspiring others to do the same."