The North Wind

Letter to the Editor — Our New CARE Team

Brock Tessman • February 23, 2024

There is a lot of talk about wellbeing at NMU, but action is a lot more important than talk. So what resources are we actually creating to support your wellbeing? One important resource is our new CARE...

Letter to the Editor — Protect Lake Superior, oppose Granot Loma rocket launch site

Mary Holohan • March 2, 2023

Dear North Wind Editor: Living in Marquette, it is easy to become accustomed to the untouched beauty surrounding us, but we can’t forget that this place needs protection. With climate change on our...

Letter to the Editor — How to get involved in environmental justice

Marley Wolff • February 28, 2023

Dear Editor, Oftentimes our young generations are told the world is in their hands. Though what do we do when the world placed in our hands is on fire in some regions and extreme droughts in others?...

Letter to the Editor — NMU must do more for student mental health

November 17, 2022

Several weeks ago, Northern Michigan University’s Board of Trustees announced the appointment of Brock Tessman, deputy commissioner of higher education for the Montana State University system, as NMU’s...

Letter to the Editor — Removal of Luther West’s name is just

October 7, 2022

Several months ago, in a letter to the editor defending Northern Michigan University’s decision to remove Luther West’s name from the physical structure now known only as The Science Building, I issued...

Letter to the Editor — Presentism at NMU: How a respected professor became a villain

Mark D. West • August 31, 2022

The NMU Board of Trustees, and now the NMU Foundation, have sullied the memory of Luther S. West, professor emeritus of biology at NMU from 1938 to 1965. Ignoring decades of dedication to academic research,...

Letter to the Editor—Dotson suspension highly suspect

April 21, 2022

It’s important to recognize the disparity in treatment received by Dotson, on the one hand, and the treatment received by Greer and Brundage, on the other hand. Greer and Brundage have violated the constitutional and federal statutory rights of NMU students on multiple occasions over the past decade and a half, including illegally discriminating against students with mental disorders—but have not received any disciplinary actions themselves from the university.

Letter to the Editor—The Luther West I knew

Dorothy Vanerka • February 13, 2022

This is sent with profound sadness and concern over NMU’s hasty decision to erase all traces of Dr. Luther West from it’s campus. As a relative by marriage, I testify to the character of the man I knew for 36 years.

Letter to the Editor—No mistake made removing West’s name from Science Building

Aaron Loudenslager • February 1, 2022

The Northern Michigan University Board of Trustees made the right decision when it voted last month to remove Dr. Luther West’s name from the edifice formerly known as West Science—now denominated simply as the Science Building. This action communicates to the general public, and to the NMU community in particular, that the university considers the value of an inclusive, pluralistic society to be a fundamental and paramount one.

Letter to the Editor—Luther West’s grandson speaks out

John West • January 21, 2022

During the last 20 years of his life, I got to know my grandfather Luther West very well, and was even his guardian in his last incapacitated years. I also became aware of his reputation. All who knew him liked, admired and respected him.

Letter to the Editor—In support of Luther West

Carl Anderson • January 20, 2022

I am writing this letter because I believe that I am one of few people alive who knew West well. I grew up with his youngest son and spent as much time at the West house as my own.

Letter to the Editor—Luther West is not blameless

Aaron Loudenslager • December 3, 2021

Doctor Luther West—a former Northern Michigan University biology professor who openly supported the promotion of “conservative eugenic legislation and eugenic administration” in the 1920s—is a wholly “blameless” person. At least, that’s what Philip Niswonger seems to argue in his recent letter to the editor. But his letter to the editor is entirely unconvincing, as it solely consists of a series of nonsensical non sequiturs.