Northeastern closes campus for remainder of week

***Press Release**

With the continuation of a no flush and no food service order by the City of Sterling and the Northeast Colorado Health Department, Northeastern Junior College today made the decision to close the campus for the remainder of this week. Officials have been unable to say when these orders will be lifted.

The college fully plans to open on Monday, September 23^rd  for business as usual. However students, parents, employees are asked to refer to the college’s website (www.njc.edu) or to its Facebook page (Northeastern Junior College) for updates. The college will post an update regarding Monday’s opening  by noon on Sunday. If orders on essential services have not been lifted, the college will remain closed until at which time they are lifted.  All activities and events on campus have been cancelled, postponed or moved until the college officially reopens.  This includes the athletic games and the Aubree Bullock and Tommy Brandt concert which was scheduled to take place this Friday night, sponsored by a church in Merino. As of the time of this news release, NJC was uncertain if the concert was being moved or rescheduled. 

The college stresses that it is closed, but it is not evacuated. It remains dry and did not experience any floor water on the grounds. There are still a few students remaining on campus in the halls who are unable to go home for various reasons.  Essential college staff are reporting to campus daily and are making certain these students are cared for, including making sure they have been able to bring food into their residence locations, and providing transportation and arrangements for alternative, out of town locations for them to go to bathe and clean up.  All other students were instructed on Tuesday to go home if the route there is open and safe. If they cannot go to their own home, they were encouraged to go to the homes of relatives or friends where food and water services are operational.  Administration met with approximately 150 students remaining on campus on Tuesday morning. Students choosing to leave were given directions on which highway routes are open for them to take to leave the community and access the main highways.  An inventory was taken of the students, asking those who would be leaving campus for indication of where they would be going and contact information for someone at that location. Students were very resilient of the inconvenience, many offering to carpool and transport others to their locations.

Please continue to check the NJC website or Facebook page for details and to verify over the weekend that we will be open on Monday as planned.

Cancellations on campus

All college activities and events schedule for this week at Northeastern Junior College have been cancelled. This includes items through Sunday, September 22^nd.  Please note the following schedule changes.

Soccer vs WNCC is rescheduled for Sept 25 at 2 pm.  The game will be on the high school field. Soccer’s Sept 20 & 21 games vs Laramie County and Western Wyoming will be rescheduled.

Volleyball will not be playing at the Wyobraska Tournament and those games will not be made up.

Baseball at Colorado School of Mines is rescheduled for Oct 1, TBA.  Saturday’s games with Colby are postponed.  Make up dates are pending.

Golf will not be playing at LaJunta and Lamar on Thursday and Friday.  These will not be made up.

Softball games scheduled for Saturday and Sunday are cancelled and will not be rescheduled.

The Aubree Bullock and Tommy Brandt Concert will not be held at the Bank of Colorado Event Center this Friday night as planned. Others had rented the event center as the venue, please note that this is not an NJC event. Any questions regarding the concert and its relocation or rescheduling can be directed to Clint Fiscus at 520-7304.  Northeastern will not be open for Youth volleyball on Saturday. The City of Sterling will make arrangements accordingly.

The “You Too Can U-Tube” brown bag lunch scheduled for Thursday, September 19^th at 12 noon will be rescheduled.

The Northeastern Junior College Advisory Council meeting scheduled for Thursday, September 19^th at 1 p.m. has been cancelled.

The reception for artist Andrew Kelly whose work has been on display on campus, scheduled for Thursday, September 19^th at 4 p.m. has been cancelled.

ACT Testing that was to take place on Saturday, September 21^st at Hays Student Center has been cancelled. A new date will be set and announced. Watch the media for details.

Other entities with offices operating on Northeastern’s campus such as the Sterling Work Force Center and the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation are operating at their own discretion. Alternative restroom facilities are available outdoors on the campus and must be used by any personnel or clients in the buildings at this time, due to the No Flush rule. Please contact these offices directly to know what hours of operation they are keeping: Colorado Work Force Center (Sterling Center) 522-9340, Vocational Rehab Office 522-3737.