April 2026

Blake Stenberg, who will earn a bachelor's degree from Northern Michigan University in social studies secondary education, has been selected as the student speaker for NMU's commencement on Saturday, May 2. The Bark River native will deliver his speech not long after returning from a student teaching assignment in New Zealand.

Detroit Red Wings player Dominik Shine, a former member of the NMU Wildcat hockey team from 2013-2017, has been nominated for the 2026 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. This award is granted each year to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Shine has a puck commemorating his first NHL goal, scored at age 32. His resolve to stick with the game contributed to his nomination by the Detroit chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA).

Northern Michigan University Biology Professor Diana Lafferty and some of her students recently concluded efforts to capture and collar moose as part of cooperative research team that also involves members of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and the Michigan DNR. The team focused its winter work on the core moose population area in the western Upper Peninsula.

A collaborative mural is nearing completion in the newly-remodeled Lydia M. Olson Library at Northern Michigan University. The artwork, by graphic design and ecology student Sydney Kuipers, depicts a variety of animals native to the Upper Peninsula arranged in a geometric-like pattern. It is located front and center along the wall near the information services desk. Campus and community members have assisted in painting the mural.

Northern Michigan University will host its 30th annual Celebration of Student Scholarship from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, April 16, in Jamrich Hall. The event highlights scholarly and creative work by undergraduate and graduate students across all disciplines. Presentations include posters, oral presentations, artistic performances and visual art displays. This follows another celebration of student scholarly activity: the inaugural Winter Research Day held earlier this semester.  

Northern Michigan University business students placed in every event they entered at the Michigan Collegiate DECA State Conference, marking a strong debut for the university's newly established DECA chapter. First-place winners Maya Van Berkum and Autumn Brutyn will advance to the International Career Development Conference in Louisville, Ky., in late April.

Northern Michigan University will host its annual Middle School Women in Construction Career Exploration event on Friday, April 10, in the Jacobetti complex. About 175 students from regional school districts are scheduled to participate.

Northern Michigan University Director of Choral Activities Erin Colwitz recently collaborated with colleague and friend Gabriela Hristova from the University of Michigan–Flint to host a panel discussion at the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Midwestern conference. Their panel focused on one of the most pressing challenges facing higher education music programs today: how to serve a student population that arrives with wildly varying levels of preparation, while still maintaining the rigor the profession demands.

The Michigan Association of Broadcasters has announced that WNMU-FM, Public Radio 90, has received two awards for the 2025 Broadcast Excellence Awards in the categories of Music Feature or Special and Special Interest & Cultural Programming. 

Northern Michigan University's Music Department will present its final ensemble concerts of the semester featuring Symphonic Band & Wind Ensemble, Trombone Choir and the NMU Orchestra. The University Choir and Arts Chorale will also join the Marquette Choral Society for two performances later this month. Admission to all but the latter is free.