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Protests at NMU commencement ceremony

MARQUETTE, MI--   Michigan Governor Rick Snyder was met by protesters when he gave Northern Michigan University’s commencement address Saturday.

A Native American group played a drum as environmentalists and activist groups held signs objecting to his policies.

Kayla Shannon is from Flint.

“I’m here because this is a beautiful way to show that we all stand together in this fight and that it’s not just the city making noise,” she said.

Nayyirah Shariff is the director of Flint Rising—a group that advocates for clean water in the city. She said she’s impressed with the students.

“I think it’s amazing that students here at NMU have made the stand to be in solidarity with Flint residents.”   

Students held a bottled water drive for flint on Friday. The governor recently ended shipping free bottled water to Flint residents.

At commencement some graduates and families stood up and turned their backs to Snyder as he gave his speech.

After graduation NMU President Fritz Erickson released the following statement

Today was another great commencement ceremony as we celebrated with 825 graduates and their families. We are appreciative to Governor Snyder for joining us today and sharing greats words of advice with the graduates. Additionally, I am very proud of how our students who chose to express their personal views, did so in a very professional and respectful manner. All-in-all, a great way to end another exciting school year.

 President Fritz Erickson

Nicole was born near Detroit but has lived in the U.P. most of her life. She graduated from Marquette Senior High School and attended Michigan State and Northern Michigan Universities, graduating from NMU in 1993 with a degree in English.