This timeline was created by Northland-Forever.com and used with their permission.

This page will continue to be updated as we continue to learn more information.

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/

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 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 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 21 – Cheq Bay Collective hosts a meeting at Bohemian Hall in Ashland to discuss how Northland’s potential closure will affect the community, what the future of Northland could look like, and how we can all be involved in making that happen. 

March 22 – The City of Ashland hosts a fundraising party including a silent auction, food and drink, and live music at the Bretting Center in Ashland from 4-10pm.

March 26th – The ad-hoc committee of the faculty council released a community-drive plan entitled True Northland: A Vision to Increase Revenue, Decrease Expenses, and Widen our Mission’s Reach.