Bay Mills Community College Gets Record Gift, NMU Student Leader Program Wins State Award, Michigan Constitution Change Opportunity, & Michigan Suicide Rates Higher Than National Average

– INFORMED BREVITY –

Bay Mills Community College Gets Record Breaking Gift

A billionaire decided to give a huge donation to the Upper Peninsula’s Bay Mills Community College. $9 million dollars!!!!

Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott made the donation from her foundation, Yield Giving. It is directed to education programs for Native Americans in the eastern Upper Peninsula. Bay Mills Community College is part of the Bay Mills Indian Community and is a “federally recognized Ojibwe tribe in Brimley, about 17 miles west of Sault Ste. Marie in the Upper Peninsula.”

Congratulations to Bay Mills Community College and thank you to Ms. Scott for making this gift.

Northern Michigan University’s Student Leader Fellowship Program (SLFP) Wins State Award

Michigan Governor Whitmer gave the SLFP the Michigan Service Award for Youth Impact. The award is considered a high honor in Michigan. SLFP has been working with young people for decades and the award represents the impact it has had on these students and on the community:

• Over 1,300 student SLFP fellows.
• Over 500 community service site advisors.
• Over 1,000 community mentors.

“The SLFP thrives because of a community committed to positive change–students pushing themselves to grow, mentors sharing their time and talents, and community partners offering meaningful service opportunities.”  (NMU Press release).

Congratulations to everyone involved with SLFP!!

Have an Idea for Changing the Michigan Constitution?

Well you might just have an opportunity to get your idea included. When the Michigan Constitution was ratified in 1963 it included a provision that said every 16 years Michigan citizens get to vote on whether to revise the Michigan Constitution in a convention of elected delegates.

The next opportunity to do this will be 2026 when this very question will be on the November ballot. If a convention is approved then delegates to the constitutional convention will be elected and debate proposed changes. Any changes made by the constitution convention delegates will have to be presented to the Michigan voters for approval.

So start polishing up your idea and get your friends to vote in November 2026 for the convention. Good luck to all.

Michigan Suicide Rates Higher Than National Rate

A Michigander dies every six hours from suicide, and more than 1,500 Michiganders died by suicide in 2023 according to data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. They report that suicide rates are the highest in Northern Michigan’s rural counties and “in some cases double the risk in more populated areas.”

This data does seem to demand a review of mental health services and funding in Michigan and especially in rural areas. One has to hope that the Governor and the Legislature will give it an in-depth review in 2026.

Quotes That Make Us Go Hmmm

“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of socialism is the equal division of misery.” Winston Churchill.

“If not good law, there was worldly wisdom in the maxim attributed to Napoleon that ‘The tools belong to the man who can use them.’ We may say that power to legislate for emergencies belongs in the hands of Congress, but only Congress itself can prevent power from slipping through its fingers.” Justice Robert Jackson.

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