Around NMU

The NMU Board of Trustees approved faculty tenure, promotions and new appointments, which took effect with the start of the fall semester. Trustees also authorized contract extensions for several school and department heads.

Northern Michigan University junior Morgan Kolimaga of Sun Prairie, Wis., is one of 14 students across the country selected to serve on the 2020-21 National Panhellenic Conference Student Advisory Committee (NPC SAC).  

Put Your Hand on the Line, an award-winning documentary about the 1975 Northern Michigan University football team's remarkable turnaround from losing every game one season to winning the NCAA Division II National Championship the next, will stream online as part of the 2020 Dances with Films Festival. Showings are scheduled for 8 p.m. EDT Monday, Aug. 31, and 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 2.

The 1975 Division II National Championship football team was not the only squad in NMU history to dramatically reverse its fortunes following a winless season. In 1956, the Wildcat football team finished 7-0-1 after losing every game the previous year.

Northern Michigan University's Behavioral Education, Assessment and Research (BEAR) Center has received nearly $500,000 from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund (Health Fund) to reach wider populations in more diverse settings in the Upper Peninsula, and to train more providers. 

In response to the economic impact of COVID-19, NMU student Joshua Gosseck has launched a fundraising campaign titled Unite Marquette, where 100% of the proceeds from t-shirt and mask sales will be used to promote local businesses. The campaign runs from Aug. 22-31.

Northern Michigan University Education Professor Mitchell Klett is one of five faculty from Great Lakes region universities who led a recent professional development workshop to help K-12 teachers effectively engage their students in researching the water quality of the Great Lakes as it relates to harmful algae blooms.

The Upper Michigan Brain Tumor Center, a collaborative effort between NMU, UP Health System-Marquette and the Superior Health Foundation, received a $5,000 check from IncredibleBank as the title sponsor of the Hope Starts Here Challenge. The annual challenge raises funds and awareness for the UMBTC, whose mission is to empower patients and families dealing with brain tumors through advocacy, research, education and treatment.

NMU's School of Health and Human Performance continues to have a major influence on the International Society of Biomechanics in Sports as it marks 20 years of involvement in the organization. At the 2020 ISBS conference, held virtually because of COVID-19, NMU faculty, students and alumni contributed papers and video presentations, coordinated events, and were elected to serve in leadership roles.

The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center at NMU is hosting a new exhibition in its Gries Hall gallery titled “Through the Years: Mount Mesnard to Mount Marquette.” Students in an anthropology course taught by Scott Demel created and installed the exhibit. It features dozens of artifacts collected during many years of archeological digs at the site, photographs of the excavation and other artifacts, and interpretive panels.