Around NMU

Northern Michigan University Theatre & Dance has finalized a merger between its Wildcat Performing Arts Academy (WPAA) and Superior Arts Youth Theater (SAYT), which has been part of the Marquette community for more than 20 years and recently performed The Wizard of Oz on campus. WPAA will continue to focus on education and training, with workshops, summer intensives and other programming. SAYT will remain as the performance and design branch as it moves forward under the WPAA umbrella.

Five Green Fund project proposals for student-led sustainability initiatives on campus have been selected for implementation this year. They include pollinator habitats, bat boxes, a bike share program, birdfeeders, and apartment composting. The combined budget for all is nearly $27,000, and will be covered by the Green Fund, a student-paid fee that supports sustainable project ideas submitted by students from any major and approved through a selection process.

Over spring break, 43 Northern Michigan University students and faculty members traveled to St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, for immersive field courses in marine and terrestrial ecology, research, and destination catering. The experience provided hands-on learning opportunities in diverse environmental and culinary settings and fostered interdisciplinary collaboration.

Northern Michigan University's Platform Personalities will host "An Evening with Rachel Dratch." The multifaceted comedian, actress and writer is perhaps best known for her seven-year run on "Saturday Night Live," where she created many memorable characters, including Debbie Downer. She will participate in a conversation at 7 p.m. Monday, March 31, in the Northern Center Grand Ballroom. Admission is free for NMU students with ID and $5 for the general public.

Eleven students from NMU Theater and Dance recently attended the U.S. Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) annual conference and stage expo in Columbus, Ohio. Four of the students were selected as conference assistants, and one presented a poster presentation.

As part of Northern Michigan University's 125th Anniversary Celebration, a special public event is planned to recognize the 30th anniversary of "Haywire," the Forest Roberts Theatre musical about an 1880s logging camp that was one of five productions selected from more than 900 national submissions to perform at the Kennedy Center's American College Theatre Festival. 

When large-scale natural or man-made disasters occur in the United States, such as Hurricane Helene or the recent Washington, D.C. plane crash, a Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT) may be deployed at the request of the local medical examiner's office to help identify deceased individuals and store the bodies until they are claimed. DMORT has never deployed in cold weather, so to ensure its processes would function well in that environment, it held its first full cold-weather training exercise at Northern Michigan University last week, shortly after the blizzard. Organizers gave NMU high marks for the professionalism of students from various disciplines who participated, and for help facilitating the setup a disaster portable morgue unit in a Jacobetti Complex parking lot.

This month's Northern Michigan University Jazz Festival will be preceded by a presentation on the history of jazz at NMU to coincide with the university's 125th anniversary and feature opening and closing concerts with guest artist Matt Wilson, a drummer, band leader and educator. The annual festival brings middle and high school students from throughout the region to campus for performances and clinics. 

Northern Michigan University hosted a March 8 visit by the touring group 1° of Separation, which presents a comedy show and suicide prevention program aimed at ending the stigma of mental illness. NMU Veterans Services Coordinator Mike Rutledge is on the board of Upper Peninsula Together With Veterans, the organization that brought the show to several U.P. locations. He also collaborates with other organizations that help area residents who have served in the military—outreach that extends beyond his role assisting student veterans and elevating NMU's position on national Military Friendly Schools rankings.

Northern Michigan University cybersecurity students took second place in the March 1 regional event of the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C) national competition. Five students spent 10 hours on a spring break Saturday working diligently in the Northern Center lab, showing they can compete with the best cybersecurity student across the country.