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Our Purpose and Vision

UNITED 2027 continues the evolution of Northern Michigan University’s longstanding UNITED Conference: a three-day multiconference experience that brings together our people, our place, and our potential under one shared vision.

Anchored in Our Compass and guided by NMU’s core values of inclusion, wellbeing, and empowerment, UNITED 2027 weaves together several cornerstone initiatives into one cohesive experience: the Wildcat Wellbeing Fair, Poetry Without Borders, the Common Reader Program, the Scholarly Buzz Session, the UNITED–KHHP Student Success Conference, and the inaugural One Health Symposium. Under this year’s theme, Wellbeing Rx: Healing Ourselves, Strengthening Our Communities, these events form a dynamic ecosystem that uplifts wellness, leadership, sustainability, and equity. They invite every student, employee, and community member to learn, lead, and thrive together, and to write, in relationship, the practices, policies, and partnerships that allow people, communities, and the land to flourish.

Concept Overview

UNITED 2027 is not simply a series of events; it is collective healing and growth in action. Guided by the theme Wellbeing Rx: Healing Ourselves, Strengthening Our Communities, UNITED 2027 links academic inquiry, sustainability, wellness, and cultural dialogue to show how a learning community can move beyond treating symptoms to cultivating the conditions in which people, communities, and the land flourish together.

Each signature event contributes a unique perspective:

• Common Reader Program: Cultivates empathy and shared understanding through literature, dialogue, and diverse perspectives.
• One Health Symposium: Explores the interconnected health of people, animals, and the environment, and the shared responsibility for sustaining all three.
• Poetry Without Borders: Celebrates the U.P.’s linguistic diversity by featuring poetry recitations in languages other than English, with English translations provided.
• The Scholarly Buzz Session: Showcases faculty and student research in fast-paced, interdisciplinary presentations of three slides in five minutes.
• UNITED Conference Sessions: Brings students, employees, and community members together through workshops, panels, performances, healing spaces, and outdoor and embodied experiences. These sessions explore the prescriptions that sustain wellbeing, including connection, nature, purpose, rest, movement, creativity, culture, financial stability, and the future we design together.
• UNITED–KHHP Student Success Conference: Helps students discover and make the most of NMU’s resources and services through engaging sessions, interactive workshops, and networking. Along the way, students build meaningful connections with peers, faculty, staff, and university leaders.
• Wildcat Wellbeing Fair: Promotes holistic health through screenings, demonstrations, and resources that support the eight dimensions of wellbeing.

Together, they form a shared prescription for wellbeing that moves from self-awareness to collective responsibility.