Interim President of Northland College Speaks About Campus Closure

ASHLAND, Wis. — The Interim President of the soon-to-close Northland College is talking about the difficult decision that the university is in.

On Wednesday, the college made the unexpected announcement that the 133-year-old college is shutting down at the end of this academic school year.

The news came just five months after northland college officials said they received donations to turn the college around for years to come.

On Thursday, Barb Lundberg, the interim president, told Fox21 that rising costs and a more-than-expected loss of enrollment this academic year are the reasons the institutions can’t continue.

“We’re in this situation now where we have to move forward we have to take care of our students and that’s what our priority is right now,” said Lundberg. “It’s to graduate the students that we have to help those who aren’t able to graduate from this institution that they love and that they came to and have enjoyed, to find paths forward for them.”

Besides the closure announcement on Wednesday, the Board of Trustees also accepted the resignation of then-President Chad Dayton. Dayton talked to Fox21 last September about what he described as a bright future ahead for Northland College.