CLICK BELOW TO HEAR INTERVIEW WITH NMU PRES. ERICKSON
Northern Michigan University celebrated its 120th anniversary Thursday with a big party on the lawn of the newly-remodeled Northern Center, which was known since 1960 as the Universuty Center.
There were bounce houses for the kids, and Northern President Fritz Erickson got into the action by dishing out ice cream to the big crowd, which included many kids who posed for photos with the mascot Wildcat Willy.
“It’s great to have so many people from the community, students, faculty, and staff, and families all come out and enjoy this celebration,” Erickson said between handing out scoops of ice cream. “There’s nothing quite like ice cream,” he added.
Earlier on Thursday, a ceremony was held to rededicate the University Center building, which was completely redone over the past 18 months into what is now known as the Northern Center.
“We said that if we were going to do this, we’re going to do this first class,” Erickson said during an interview with RRN News inside the soon-to-open Wildcat Den. “We weren’t going to just put a little paint on, and maybe put on some new ceiling tiles. We wanted a first-class facility for the university and for the community. And as you can see, that’s exactly what we have. This is a community facilty. We needed a really first-rate ‘front door’ for the university. This is our front door.”
NMU Board of Trustees Chairman Bob Mahaney gave comments at the ceremony, as did the man who spearheaded the project, NMU Vice President for Finance Gavin Leach.
“The old building was outdated,” Northern Center Sales Manager Elizabeth Peterson told RRN News. “It had been here for a long, long time. We needed something that really invited people on campus. This is exactly what this does. The bookstore is beautiful. We renovated the meeting rooms. We have four big new big ballrooms that can be one large large space or four smaller spaces. Lots of wonderful changes.”
