Fueled by a desire to honor his parents, NMU alumnus Ron Sarchian (BS '87) has set seven Guinness World Records and plans to pursue more this summer. The former Wildcat football player punched a heavy bag for 50 hours, nine minutes. He also split 42 watermelons with a karate chop in one minute on the "Today" show.  The industrial technology grad worked seven years for Boeing in Seattle before moving to Southern California to be an actor, stuntman and personal trainer to the stars.

The south wing of the University Center was gutted after a demolition kickoff event last week, launching the first phase of the building's renovation. The book store previously relocated to the Peter White Lounge and West Hall and the North Wind Office to Gries Hall to accommodate reconstruction. The first phase is scheduled for completion in April 2019. Renovations to the Great Lakes wing will begin April 2019 and be completed in August 2019.

NMU engineering design junior Jordan Walker-Jenkins recently competed in Canada's largest yo-yo competition to see how he stacks up against the best "return-top specialists." A resident of Brimley, Walker-Jenkins has retained his Canadian citizenship, which made him eligible to compete in the country's national championship. While he did not advance to the finals, a video of his preliminary round is impressive and supports his contention in a sootoday.com feature that “Modern yo-yo-ing isn’t just like, do walk the dog and then maybe rock the baby on stage. It’s a lot more intricate.

Recent MFA graduate Amy Smith will guest edit an upcoming edition of "Stirring" literary journal, which revolves around a theme: Hot Mess. The poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction Smith selects for publication will celebrate "fantastical failures that we can’t look away from, moments when steering into the skid is the best decision.