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Baker Report: Red and Black

March 13, 2014
NIU President Doug Baker speaks at the Red and Black Gala while NIU Student Lincoln Laureate Sarah Stuebing listens.

NIU President Doug Baker speaks at the Red and Black Gala
while NIU Student Lincoln Laureate Sarah Stuebing listens.

Spring break has hit the NIU campus, but that didn’t stop the snow from falling.

And it didn’t stop the Huskie basketball teams from advancing to Cleveland in the MAC Tournament. Congratulations to both the men’s and women’s basketball squads, which won thrilling games this week before dropping out in the second round.

Next week we begin our second round of Bold Futures workshops. Half of the sessions will be for those who participated in the first round of workshops in the fall and the other half will be for newcomers.

In the two-part workshops, we will examine our current fiscal and enrollment challenges and opportunities and then develop plans to affect enrollment through increased student retention. These will be important sessions to unleash the creativity and good ideas of the NIU community. Please participate if you can. You can check the schedule and sign up at www.niu.edu/president/bold_futures.

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to attend my first-ever Red and Black celebration, which brings Northern Illinois University alumni and friends together to recognize our great faculty, hard-working students and generous donors. The annual event is a celebration of everything that makes NIU such an outstanding institution.

Douglas D. Baker

Douglas D. Baker

Dana and I enjoyed our time spent with more than 500 dedicated members of the NIU community. I have been impressed by the passionate and thoughtful ideas on how to provide the best educational experiences that will promote student career success.

Thanks to all those who work hard to provide opportunities for our students through your generous gifts of experience, creativity and talent. Many also provide financial support for students, faculty, programs and facilities, which are critical for ensuring NIU’s continued success, fostering growth and stability for our entire university. These gifts reflect the confidence the NIU community has in the potential of our programs, faculty and staff in fulfilling our mission of promoting excellence and engagement in teaching and learning, research, scholarship, creativity, artistry, outreach and service.

To bold futures,

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