{"id":165665,"date":"2026-01-07T13:49:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T18:49:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.nmc.edu\/?p=165665"},"modified":"2026-03-27T20:37:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T00:37:19","slug":"success-story-lasting-legacy-bold-tomorrow-nmc-marks-75-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.nmc.edu\/?p=165665","title":{"rendered":"Success Story: Lasting Legacy. Bold Tomorrow. NMC marks 75 years"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"NMC 75th anniversary logo and photos of outstanding alumni class of 2026 honorees\" height=\"220\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.nmc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/98f963bb0a0a00b8328527f92028e763nmc-marks-75-years-success-story-header-3.jpg\" width=\"570\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>January 7, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A community cornerstone was born 75 years ago when Northwestern Michigan College opened its doors, establishing itself as the state&#8217;s first community college and a reputation for excellence, innovation and responsiveness that continues today.<\/p>\n<p>NMC is launching its 75th anniversary year by introducing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nmc.edu\/about\/foundation\/alumni\/outstanding-alumni-2026.html\">a special 2026 class of Outstanding Alumni<\/a> &#8212; a group of more than five dozen individuals who have made exceptional contributions to their communities and career fields &#8212; as well as a year-long slate of special events.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The accomplishments of these alumni span an incredible range of professions, from entrepreneurs to health care providers, from law enforcement to elected leadership,&#8221; NMC President <strong>Nick Nissley<\/strong> said of the class of 2026. &#8220;Daily, they embody NMC&#8217;s mission to transform lives and enrich our communities.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The recipients are from every decade since NMC opened its doors in 1951. Some of the more familiar names include current state representatives <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nmc.edu\/about\/foundation\/alumni\/outstanding-alumni-2026.html#betsy-coffia\">Betsy Coffia<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nmc.edu\/about\/foundation\/alumni\/outstanding-alumni-2026.html#john-roth\">John Roth<\/a>, Networks Northwest CEO <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nmc.edu\/about\/foundation\/alumni\/outstanding-alumni-2026.html#janie-mcnabb\">Janie McNabb<\/a>, city of Traverse City manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nmc.edu\/about\/foundation\/alumni\/outstanding-alumni-2026.html#benjamin-marentette\">Benjamin Marentette<\/a>&#160;, Grand Traverse County Sheriff <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nmc.edu\/about\/foundation\/alumni\/outstanding-alumni-2026.html#mike-shea\">Mike Shea<\/a> and author <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nmc.edu\/about\/foundation\/alumni\/outstanding-alumni-2026.html#chasten-buttigieg\">Chasten Buttigieg<\/a>. It also includes seven current NMC faculty and staff members.<\/p>\n<p>The yearlong anniversary celebration is highlighted by three signature events open to the public:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>April 25<\/strong>: Student and community block party, Front Street campus<\/li>\n<li><strong>July 25<\/strong>: History walk, Front Street campus<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sept 19:<\/strong> Anniversary celebration, Great Lakes campus&#160;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;In 1951, the community spoke loud and clear &#8212; they wanted a college in northern Michigan. Seventy-five years later, that wisdom is reflected in a healthy, thriving NMC,&#8221; Nissley said. &#8220;We want the community to join us in a celebration of that founding vision, which we plan to carry out for 75 more years.<\/p>\n<p>NMC opened its doors on Sept. 19, 1951. A total of 65 students attended classes held at the Traverse City airport terminal building. Today, more than 3,400 students are enrolled.<\/p>\n<p>NMC has named Outstanding Alumni since 1988. In addition to the class of 2026, the college is honoring all past recipients of the award, as well as NMC&#8217;s Fellow award, as Legacy recipients. Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nmc.edu\/75\/index.html\">nmc.edu\/75<\/a> to see the list.<\/p>\n<div id=\"cmsiframe-div\"><iframe frameborder=\"0\" id=\"cmsiframe\" src=\"\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>January 7, 2026 A community cornerstone was born 75 years ago when Northwestern Michigan College opened its doors, establishing itself as the state&#8217;s first community college and a reputation for excellence, innovation and responsiveness that continues today. NMC is launching its 75th anniversary year by introducing a special 2026 class of Outstanding Alumni &#8212; a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-165665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-intercom","category-student-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Success Story: Lasting Legacy. Bold Tomorrow. 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