Embedded Files
08/20/2025 - With the help of competitive federal grants and local support, a campus reduced to rubble seven years ago due to the onslaught of Super Typhoon Yutu is now rising into a beacon of renewal.
During an interview last Monday, Northern Marianas College vice president for Administration and Advancement Frankie Eliptico said the CNMI’s lone community college is set to open its brand-new $30-million student center by the fourth quarter of this year.
To be rechristened PROA Student Union, the project is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, FEMA, and the Capital Improvement Program Office through the Office of Insular Affairs.
“This student center is meant to have all of those front facing facilities and will be a great space for our students to not only gather, not only get together with their study groups, but also network with other students and also access student programs and services like financial aid, like admissions, the library, our archives, our student support services, and many other programs that our students directly benefit from,” said Eliptico.
The three-story facility is designed to be the college’s new flagship building, complete with flexible spaces for study groups and larger gatherings, a revived dining hall, offices for student support services, and even the CNMI Archives, which house the original Covenant agreement with the United States. The student center is also future-proofed with solar panels and energy-efficient systems to help offset operational costs.
“This is the first public building that you see after the airport, of course. So, we wanted to make sure that our community here at the college, but also the CNMI community is proud of this structure because this was built with a partnership with the entire CNMI, from the Governor's Office to the Legislature, to our CNMI Delegate’s Office, and everybody in the CNMI, they've had a very big role,” said Eliptico.
The Student Center will serve both academic and civic functions, offering space not only for NMC students but also for community members researching in the archives, attending events, or benefiting from college programs.
The new Student Center is also the first building in at least 25 years designed and built from the ground up specifically for NMC. Its ribbon-cutting later this year will kick off the college’s 45th anniversary celebrations, according to Eliptico.
And NMC won’t stop with the PROA Student Union, as it’s actually in the middle of a historic transformation. Nearly seven years after Yutu almost completely flattened its campus, the college is preparing to unveil the first of several new storm-resilient facilities that will not only raise the profile of the islands’ lone community college, but also benefit the greater community for decades to come.
Eliptico said when Yutu struck in 2018, it left behind unprecedented destruction. “The college lost most of its buildings, including 37 out of 39 classrooms, and wiped out approximately 80%-85% of our entire facilities.”
NMC has already put out invitations for bids on its next facility and expects to break ground on multiple new projects in 2025. These include a Workforce Development and Training Center, two new classroom buildings, and the Center for Research and Extension Development, or CRED, which will house the college’s Cooperative Research, Extension, and Education Services.
Eliptico said all these new facilities will be resilient, storm-ready, and tailored to the needs of our students and the broader community.
“I just want to again thank you to our funding sources, our partners, and the support of our community, not just in the public sector, but also in the private sector. NMC is heading into its 45th anniversary of the institution since its founding.”
Report by Mark Rabago
Report abuse