This page will continue to be updated as we continue to learn more information with the most recent news at the top.

• April 4 – At 4pm Northland students, faculty, and staff were invited to a meeting hosted by Ted Bristol (Chairman of the Board of Trustees) and President Chad Dayton. During this short meeting, it was announced that Northland is declaring financial exigency. The decision about closing the college will be delayed and faculty, staff, and leadership will use the next couple weeks to formally explore restructuring operations and curriculum in an effort to cut costs. Read the official announcement here. Watch a video recording of the meeting here.

• April 2 – Northland College faculty voted to request a meeting with the Executive and Financial Committees of the Board of Trustees to present the True Northland Plan, including recently updated budget projections. Northland Forever shared a faculty update on Facebook sharing details of the faculty effort to date.

  After not receiving a response to this request, a faculty group recorded a video “open letter” to send to the Board of Trustees to explain aspects of the budget and reiterate their request for a meeting.

  In support, Northland Forever also recorded and shared a similar video, urging the Board of Trustees to review the True Northland plan and commit to exploring every possible option to keep Northland College open.

• April 1 – An official fundraising update is published on Northland’s website. As of Sunday, March 31, the official fundraising campaign has collected over $1 million. The Board of Trustees shared that they will be meeting on Thursday, April 4 to review the outcome of fundraising efforts and will share their determination the path forward that day.

  By this date, Northland Forever has raised $241,076.11 in pledges.

• March 30 – Northland Forever hosts an all day volunteer marathon over Zoom to organize alumni and others to reach out to their personal networks, seek pledges/donations, and sign a letter of support for the True Northland plan. It’s amazing what can be done with accountability buddies!

• March 26 – A message from the Board of Trustees is shared on Northland College’s website. Although no specific amount was given, they say that the Northland College fundraising campaign still has “a long way to go to reach our goal of $12 million”. The release says that board members “look forward to reviewing shared plans and ideas from faculty, students, staff and the community” and they reaffirm the fundraising deadline of April 3 at 11:59pm.

  The community plan for the True Northland is posted! This is the result of multiple visioning sessions held with current students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members. This is a living document that proposes an operational model for a sustainable future for Northland College. Read the plan and additional explanatory graphic on True Northland’s website. Feedback on this draft of the plan can be directed to truenorthland.feedback@gmail.com

• March 25 – The faculty behind True Northland held two hour-long visioning sessions (at noon and 4pm) for the internal Northland community of current students, faculty, and staff. They read through their plan and encouraged participants to ask questions, share perspectives, and give feedback. Their goal is to incorporate these contributions and put forth a vision that reflects the ideas and insights of the Northland community. The True Northland plan is set to be released to a wider audience on March 26. Visit https://truenorthland.org/ for more.

• March 24 – Northland Forever hosted a Zoom call to connect with more supporters and discuss next steps. The meeting divided into four separate work groups: FAQ and overview, legal, communications, and fundraising. Although we were unable to record each breakout room, you can find a recording of the introduction and large group updates here. If you’d like to read notes from the breakout groups, or signup to help with one of our current action items, check out the All Hands On Deck drive folder.

• March 22 – The City of Ashland hosted a fundraising party including a silent auction, food and drink, and live music at the Bretting Center in Ashland from 4-10pm. We are still waiting for the final totals of how much was raised at this well-attended event. The Hulings Rice Food Center let us know that 25 gallons of chili were eaten. The local community really showed up and raised a whopping $24,779.50 to be donated to Northland at this one event!

• March 20 – Continuation of Nicole Foster’s Open Space meeting. Northland Forever on Facebook live streamed the meeting introduction and breakout session focused on a sustainable business plan for Northland moving forward.

  Northland.edu FAQ page update states that if the fundraising goal is not met, anyone who contributed can request a refund of their donation. Article “Northland Community Rallies to Support Sustainable Future” https://www.northland.edu/news/northland-community-rallies-to-support-sustainable-future/

  Note: Up to this date there have been some minor updates to Northland’s official FAQ page since the announcement on Mar 11 but this is only the second article/official statement published by the school since. 

• March 18 – Nicole Foster (professor of Sustainable Community Development) facilitated the first meeting using the Open Space framework to process and brainstorm ideas for a sustainable future for Northland. Breakout discussion groups included envisioning a sustainable business model, the role of alumni, the future of campus food systems, Northland as a center of rural climate resiliency, collecting testimonials and many more. Notes from these meetings can be found at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1RcXBu6bjJ7OeoV2VumEWNid8K9L6rJGO 

• March 14 – NCSA gathered for an emergency meeting and conducted a vote of No Confidence in the Board of Trustees. A majority vote affirmed that the governing body of students at Northland College does not have confidence in the Board due to a lack of transparency and communication. In their statement released about the vote on Instagram NCSA says “this is not a formal action or call”, but is meant to express their discontent with the Board’s handling of the situation. 

• March 11 – Around 3 pm in the afternoon, all staff and faculty received an invitation from the President’s Office for a meeting at 4 pm that day. No other information was provided. At the meeting, President Chad Dayton announced that Northland needed to raise $12 million or it would be forced to close. A similar meeting was scheduled to share the announcement with current students at 5:30 pm. Note: contracted staff at the college did not receive these meeting invites. This includes maintenance, food service, and campus safety employees.

  First article published to Northland’s website “Northland College Seeks $12 million to Avoid Closure, Reimagine its Future” https://www.northland.edu/news/northland-college-seeks-12-million-to-avoid-closure-reimagine-its-future/