The spirit of the Northern Marianas College

By AGNES MCPHETRES

Editor’s Note: The following is a speech delivered by the author during the Northern Marianas College 25th Silver Anniversary Commemoration Day held at the Hibiscus Hall of the Fiesta Resort and Spa Saipan on March 23.

For my five-minute talk this morning, I was originally asked to share with you some highlights and accomplishments during the 17 years I served as president of NMC, which was from 1983 to 2000. But after discussing that topic with the coordinators of today’s event, it was agreed that I could change the topic to one that I think would be far more interesting to you and appropriate for this celebration of NMC’s silver jubilee. So, for the next few minutes, let me share with you my thoughts on a fundamental aspect of our college, which I call “The Spirit of NMC.”

Northern Marianas College is the realization of the vision of the CNMI’s first governor, Carlos Camacho. One of the first activities he set in motion upon becoming governor was an assessment of the higher education needs in our newly formed Commonwealth. Following that assessment, NMC was established through an executive order by Governor Camacho. That executive order formally established NMC in 1981, 25 years ago this month. Following the executive order, other laws were enacted to more fully outline the responsibilities and purpose of the college; then in 1985, NMC’s mission and purpose as well as other aspects of its organizational structure were included in the CNMI’s Constitution. Today, Northern Marianas College has become the embodiment of people’s beliefs and aspirations, and it has become an integral component of our development as a Commonwealth.

Today’s celebration brings back many memories of NMC, some delightful and some painful. Among those memories are those of its meager beginnings through to its full establishment and glowing review by our Accrediting Commission. The memories of its struggles and successes include those of obtaining the current campus location and the recognition of NMC throughout the Pacific and by the U.S. Federal government, and proving to the Accrediting Commission that NMC was worthy of accreditation, which it has maintained since 1985.

From its initial stages of development, the college used whatever meager resources it received from the local or federal government to provide greater opportunities for the Commonwealth’s most important resource—its people. A full understanding of NMC’s mission recognizes that the purpose of our college is to provide every citizen in the CNMI with access to higher education so that the quality of life in the CNMI is greatly improved.

The college started with a meager budget of $74,000, which came from a local appropriation. The initial administrative office and classrooms were all borrowed, and a small staff of seven personnel managed the college. However, the determination, commitment, and dedication to carry out the mission and goals of this young institution were immeasurable. No difficulty could thwart its growth and development, even under the traumatic and stressful situations that the college often experienced during those days! For three years, the staff was housed in a 16’ by 16’ borrowed facility at Marianas High School, and classes were conducted in MHS classrooms during the evening.

When the College of Micronesia moved its Nursing School to the Marshall Islands, the NMC Administration immediately took advantage of this opportunity and obtained current buildings N, O, and P and transformed them into administrative offices, a small library, and a couple of classrooms. A few years later, when the old Dr. Torres Hospital was vacated and the hospital moved to its current site, another great opportunity presented itself so the college could expand the limited facility it had obtained from the Trust Territory Government. Governor Tenorio gladly transferred the old hospital to NMC since it was condemned and declared uninhabitable. However, CHC administrators held on to the keys and would not release the building to NMC. Fortunately, providence seemed to assist NMC, for Typhoon Kim came and destroyed most of the Dr. Torres facilities so that they became useless to everyone. With the assistance of FEMA funding, NMC faculty, staff and students started reconstructing the damaged buildings and transformed them into what is currently the NMC campus.

Here again you can see the spirit of NMC through the dedication, commitment, and determination of its staff, faculty and students!

The celebration today reminds us of such spirit, because without that spirit, there would not be an NMC as we know it today! It would have not obtained its Land Grant Status, its $3 million endowment, its ongoing accreditation, or its exemplary baccalaureate program in education.

Biba NMC for a job well done for the people of the CNMI! You have afforded training and provided certificated programs and higher education degrees beyond the associate level to hundreds and hundreds of young people who could not leave the island; you have brought in advanced degrees from other universities to upgrade and empower our teachers and community members so that they could be better prepared educators for our youths and more adequately serve the community. In other words, you have contributed tremendously to enhance the quality of life and economic activities through the development of our human resources, even though you have not given the recognition you deserve. Bravo NMC! Keep up the good work!

I have recently noticed that the winds have changed in terms of assistance to this important local institution. I have heard reports that our current elected officials—our Governor and Lt. Governor—have included the college in its CIP plan for the coming years. Am I dreaming or am I witnessing a real change of attitude toward education on the part of our elected officials? I remember, during the early years of the college, our elected officials would tell me that a college education was a luxury, and that the government could not afford such a luxury, so when there was a need to reduce the education budget, the college would be the first to get whacked. One of our former prominent elected officials even told Marianas High School parents during a PTA meeting that if the government did not have enough money for scholarships, he would personally take NMC’s funding and transfer it to the Scholarship Office. The attitude of many of our elected officials in the early days of NMC was quite negative. They would prefer, if given a choice, to close NMC and give the funds to students to go off island. Those officials with such lack of vision are no longer in office, yet NMC still proudly stands.

NMC continues to prove to our elected officials and policy makers that its role in the CNMI is an essential as that of the elementary and secondary schools. The most common phrase I frequently heard when I was still the president of the college was that “elementary and secondary education is constitutionally mandated and that such is the foundation of education” and they are very correct! However, we are missing the boat if we limit the education of our people to an elementary and secondary education. We would be cheating our community and depriving our citizens of essential opportunities for personal advancement and the improvement of our community.

If we are builders or engineers or architects, for example, and are building a house, we would want to build a strong foundation, walls, roof, windows, and we would also include all the amenities of a modern structure such as running water, electricity, plumbing, shower, kitchen, living room, etc. Otherwise the home would not be comfortable. This is an apt analogy for education. An elementary and secondary education is analogous to the foundation and basic structure of the house. Such amenities as electricity and plumbing are comparable to higher education. Let’s ask ourselves—what type of building do we want to provide our community? The bare minimum? Or should we all include all the necessary amenities of a modern home?

I hope and pray that today’s elected officials will not look at the college as a luxury, as did many of our early leaders. If the CNMI cannot afford higher education, the CNMI will definitely continue to depend on outside expertise, which drains substantial financial resources from the CNMI. Is this the type of dependency on outside expertise? Don’t we deserve to be masters of our own fate and the ones who shape our own future? Don’t we have the potential, given adequate opportunities, to build our Commonwealth from within? Truly, the only limitation on our future is the limited vision of our leaders and the lack of comprehending the importance of higher education and the ongoing training of our adult citizenry!

NMC faculty, staff, and students, remember your foundation was built on ground, with unwavering dedication, firm commitment, and resolute determination. That is your foundation. That is your legacy!

Biba NMC!

(Agnes McPhetres is a former president of the Northern Marianas College and currently sits on the college’s board of regents.)