How it all started
Northland College, founded in 1892, is a private liberal arts college in northern Wisconsin on the south shore of Lake Superior. As one of the first colleges in the U.S. to fully integrate an environmental focus into its liberal arts curriculum, this unique small college provides transformative hands-on experiences to prepare students and the broader community “to act with integrity and courage to create a more sustainable and just future”. To better understand the impact of Northland College, check out the Read Stories page where we’ve collected thoughtful words of people who have been deeply impacted by this school.
$12 million or bust?
On March 11, the Northland College Board of Trustees announced that the school needs to raise $12 million by April 3 or it will be forced to close at the end of this academic year. It has long been known that Northland was facing financial challenges but this dramatic announcement was a shock to the community. With very little additional information from the Board of Trustees or official Northland channels, several groups of students, faculty, alumni, and the broader community have organized themselves to take action.
Creating Northland Forever
Many Northland community members are not willing to accept that this is the only way forward for Northland. Out of frustration with this huge demand paired with lack of details, a group of committed alumni started Northland Forever. This group aims to provide as much information as we can gather, organize efforts to plan and fundraise for the future of Northland, and offer an alternative fundraising campaign on the conditions that 1) the money will be used to continue Northland in some fashion, not to close it, and 2) the trustees commit to engaging in collaborative development of a plan that comes out of the community process.
“Northland believed in me, and my possibilities have grown in multitudes. It is my deepest hope that generations to come can benefit from such a holistic, value-driven, and inspiring undergraduate education. We need informed citizens to joyfully tackle the compounding concerns of our times. Northland is a vital resource—it is us, and I believe in us.”
– Bailey Givens, ’23
Northland Forever 