NIU Today

“Talent is universal, but opportunity is not,” NIU President Lisa Freeman told a packed audience at the Oct. 20 “Saturday Forum” broadcast at Chicago’s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition headquarters. “At NIU, we’re committed to social justice and inclusion,” she said, “and we believe that higher education is a fundamental human right.”

NIU President Lisa Freeman, Rev. Jesse Jackson, NIU Board Chairman Wheeler Coleman, and NIU Chief Diversity Officer Vernese Edghill-Walden

Freeman’s appearance at Rainbow/PUSH came at the invitation of its founder, Rev. Jesse Jackson, when he visited NIU last year to dedicate a traveling museum exhibition called “Quilts and Human Rights.”

“Rev. Jackson told us that quilts are a great metaphor for an inclusive society,” Freeman recalled. “Individually the pieces are just rags, but sewn together they make a blanket of strength that warms and protects us.”

She went on to promote NIU as a university that has launched nearly a quarter of a million graduates since its founding, and with nearly half its current student body made up of people of color, it is strongly reflective of the region it serves.

Freeman described both long-standing initiatives and newer programs aimed at expanding access to higher education for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The now 50-year-old CHANCE program, new scholarships for students from Chicago Public Schools and City Colleges of Chicago, and support for undocumented students were three examples.

NIU Chief Diversity Officer Vernese Edghill-Walden also spoke, describing the work of her Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

“I don’t need to tell you that the challenge of recruiting a more diverse faculty is faced by nearly every public university in this country,” Edghill-Walden said. “At NIU, we’re developing graduate school pipelines for students of color who are interested in teaching and providing them incentives to consider a career as a university faculty member. My office also works with hiring departments across the university to educate them about ways they can attract more minority applicants for teaching positions.”

Responding to another speaker’s exhortation for people of color to “fill up the business and law schools in this country,” Edghill-Walden said, “I wouldn’t stop with business and law: Education is the best gift we can give our children, and a college education puts power in their hands!”

Freeman and Edghill-Walden were joined by the NIU Black Choir (also celebrating its 50th anniversary), a coalition of DREAM Action students, and NIU Board of Trustees Chair Wheeler Coleman, himself an alumnus of NIU and the CHANCE program.

“If it sounds like I’m extraordinarily proud of NIU, it’s because I am,” said Freeman.

“When we ask our students and faculty why they chose NIU or what they value most about our university, the rich diversity of our student body is consistently at the top of their list,” she said. “We have excellent faculty and staff, a beautiful campus, a growing portfolio of online programs and a community that strives to be welcoming and inclusive.”

The entire text of President Freeman’s remarks is available online.

In August 2017, the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) developed a research study to learn about employee experiences with and campus climate surrounding family leave at NIU. The study, based on a survey of 542 NIU employees, made a number of recommendations for the university to update its approach to family leave. The central recommendation is for NIU to explore formulating a family leave benefit plan.

Jessica Reyman

“Currently, there is no university policy or paid benefit specifically for family leave for employees at Northern Illinois University,” says Jessica Reyman, an associate professor of English and one of the lead researchers on the study.

She continues, “Our research confirms that current family leave policies and practices present undue challenges to some faculty and staff who seek a reasonable and fair work arrangement when taking a leave of absence for a significant life event such as pregnancy and birth, care for a newborn or other family member, and personal health conditions.”

NIU is already working to address the concerns identified by the study.

President Lisa Freeman

“The survey results provide us with important insights and show that NIU should be more progressive in the way we look at and operationalize family leave,” says NIU President Dr. Lisa Freeman.

President Freeman continues, “I’ve asked Human Resource Services (HRS) to review plans and practices at peer institutions, identify effective practices and use that knowledge to develop goals for creating a thoughtful and realistic benefit program that addresses the needs of our faculty and staff. At the same time, we’re taking immediate steps to improve the implementation of leaves. I’ve directed the Provost’s Office and HRS to revise the process for development, management and implementation of work plans and back-to-work plans that often accompany FMLA [Family and Medical Leave Act] leaves, with the goal of achieving more consistency and transparency across departments. PCSW is researching tenure clock policies at peer institutions to guide recommendations to the University Council Personnel Committee (UCPC) regarding our policies related to FMLA and stopping the tenure clock.”

The commission emphasizes that, although women are more likely to require family leave for certain life events, such as the birth of a child or caregiving responsibilities for a newborn or other family member, family leave policies and practices have the potential to affect all employees. Therefore, the survey gathered data from 542 NIU employees of all genders, including 51 percent of civil service employees, 26 percent of Supportive Professional Staff (SPS) and 22 percent of faculty. The full report is available on the NIU website.

For more information, contact the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women at pcsw@niu.edu.

Steven Howell (associate professor of Kinesiology and Physical Education), Vijaykumar Krishnan Palghat (associate professor and chair of Marketing) and Alicia Schatteman (associate professor of Public and Global Affairs) have been selected as Program Fellows to participate in the second year of the Mid-American Conference’s (MAC) Academic Leadership Development Program.

Steve Howell

Vijay Krishnan

The goal of the MAC Academic Leadership Development Program (ALDP) is to offer professional development opportunities to faculty and administrators at MAC universities and to prepare and enhance their academic leadership abilities.

“Through the thoughtful and collaborative efforts of our provosts, other institutional leaders and conference staff, this professional development opportunity has launched and should provide tremendous value to the participants and the membership,” said MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher. “This will be an excellent tool to enhance the growth and development of future leaders in higher education and is another way in which the MAC can provide value to its membership beyond intercollegiate athletics.”

The ALDP is sponsored by MAC and will include academic leadership development workshops hosted by one of the twelve MAC institutions each fall and spring semesters, and monthly meetings of the Fellows at their home institutions. This year’s fall workshop will be held at Miami University, followed by a spring workshop at Central Michigan University. NIU is slated to host one of the workshops in spring 2020.

“This program sponsored by MAC is a good opportunity for NIU to share its commitment to academic leadership excellence with other institutions and increase the leadership pipeline,” said Chris McCord, NIU’s acting provost. “I enjoyed interacting with last year’s Faculty Fellows and I look forward to meeting this year’s cohort.”

Alicia Shatteman

Schatteman, one of this year’s Faculty Fellows, said, “As a recently tenured faculty member, I am now thinking about my long-term career interests, and higher education administration has some appeal given my own personal background in nonprofit management. The MAC ALDP program is an excellent way to meet those in administration in my own institution whom I may not interact with regularly, as well as those in other universities. This program comes at the perfect time for me personally and professionally.”

Sarah Geiger

Leanne Vandecreek

Two NIU Faculty Fellows, Sarah Geiger (assistant professor of Health Studies) and Leanne Vandecreek (associate dean of University Libraries) who participated in last year’s program have been awarded leadership grants by the MAC ALDP. Geiger, in collaboration with Faculty Fellows from University of Akron and Western Michigan University, is exploring methods to improve student retention, and Vandecreek, in collaboration with Faculty Fellows from Bowling Green University and Eastern Michigan University, is analyzing ways to debunk myths about academic leadership. Both projects are expected to be completed by summer 2019.

Contact Logan Brooks, MAC championships administration assistant, at lbrooks@mac-sports.com for more information about the MAC ALDP.

Register now for “Treinta y tres,” an interdisciplinary conference on Friday, Nov. 2, that will feature of research of three NIU faculty members.

According to Christina Abreu, director of the Center for Center for Latino and Latin American Studies, the conference name – Treinta y tres – calls attention to, the diversity of experiences and voices emerging from the thirty-three countries that comprise Latin America. The long-term goal is to preserve and promote Latin American and Latinx scholarship.

“This year, we also wanted to highlight the original and innovative research of the Center’s faculty associates, who come from a variety of departments across the college and university,” Abreu said.

This year’s conference is centered on the theme of social and political activism and features the original research of Beatrix Hoffman, Department of History; Laura Johnson, Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment; and Mark Schuller, Department of Anthropology and the Center for Nonprofit and NGO Studies.

Beatrix Hoffman

Hoffman’s presentation chronicles the activism of groups who have demanded an equal right to health care regardless of citizenship or immigration status, including progressive labor unions in the 1890s, farmworker organizations in the 1970s and ’80s, and the immigrant rights movement today.

Laura Johnson

Community engagement and advocacy among Latinx youth in Chicago will be the focus of Johnson’s presentation, where she will share findings from her research with Latinx youth/pregnant and parenting youth attending an alternative high school in Chicago’s Humboldt Park community. She will discuss how youth’s involvement in a number of school-based initiatives and Participatory Action Research projects helped them participate in broader discussions and debates in a variety of issues relevant to their lives and communities, including gun violence, gentrification, food insecurity and teen parenthood.

Mark Schuller

During Schuller’s presentation, participants will learn about activism without borders, commonly referred to as solidary activism or being a global citizen. As he traces the progression of this form of activism, he will encourage the audience to grapple with dilemmas of inclusion and exclusion, and differential privilege: too often solidarity can bleed into speaking on behalf of, the ‘voice for the voiceless.’

The conference, hosted by the Center for Latino and Latin American Studies, will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Latino Center, 515 Garden Road. The event is free and open to NIU students, faculty and staff. Advanced registration is encouraged.

“We hope that attendees leave the conference eager to keep thinking about the past and present roles of social and political activism in Latinx communities,” Abreu said. “As Treinta y tres evolves each year, we plan to feature student panels as well as a keynote speaker.”

The Center for Latino and Latin American Studies, housed within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is the home for the interdisciplinary study of the Latino experience in the United States as well as Latin America and the Caribbean. The Center’s curricular offerings in the humanities, arts and social sciences are enhanced by our academic and cultural programming and community outreach activities.

DREAM Action NIU, the student-led organization that aims to increase awareness about the situations undocumented students face in the United States — and particularly on the NIU campus — will host their annual undocumented ally training on Monday, Nov.19.

Scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the Regency Room of the Holmes Student Center, this training for NIU faculty and staff will focus on how to effectively assist and support undocumented students on campus.

Participants will learn about NIU and community resources for undocumented students; hear updates on immigration that affect undocumented students’ access to higher education; identify unmet needs and resources for undocumented students; and discuss lessons learned from the student, staff and faculty perspectives.

The training will include a presentation by the Immigration Law Office of Jeremy Lime. An overview of demographics, undocumented students’ characteristics and implications for higher education will include suggestions on how to support incoming and currently enrolled undocumented NIU students.

The training will conclude with a student panel where NIU students will share their experiences as they transition and navigate to college, academics and student life.

Seating is limited so RSVP online by Monday, Nov. 12.

This event is sponsored by DREAM Action NIU and the Office for Undocumented Student Support, and Academic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. For more information, call 815-753.2391 or email slopez1@niu.edu.

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” the next NIU STEM Café will bring together experts in a variety of fields for a lively discussion about dead bodies and body parts. Hear how scientific quests for knowledge led to grave robbing and even murder right here in DeKalb County in the 19th century. Learn how ethical practices in body procurement and preservation have advanced modern medicine. Discover how scientists are applying this knowledge to engineer and fabricate body parts.

The STEM Café will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Fatty’s Pub and Grille in DeKalb. The event is free and open to the public, and food and drinks will be available for purchase from Fatty’s.

The lineup of lively and knowledgeable speakers will begin with local historian and NIU alumnus Clint Cargile. Cargile will tell the story of the “resurrectionists” who invaded DeKalb County in 1847 and 1848 to steal bodies of the recently deceased to sell to medical schools.

Clint Cargile, local historian

Cargile says the audience might be surprised to hear that the resurrectionists were here and were finally run out of DeKalb County in a hail of bullets. “You hear of such stories taking place in the wild west,” he says, “but what many people forget is that in the 1840s, Illinois was the wild west.”

Daniel Olson, director of the anatomy laboratory and willed body program

Dan Olson, director of the anatomy laboratory and the willed body program at NIU, will introduce the audience to more modern methods of donating the body to science. He will discuss the procedures for donating one’s body to NIU and will describe some of the many research and teaching opportunities the lab provides to the nearly 750 students who use the anatomy lab each year.

Olson will introduce the audience to Mary McGinn, a biology instructor at NIU who helps to administer the willed body program, and Sam Finch, owner of Finch Funeral Home in DeKalb.

“My goal is that, after meeting individuals associated with the willed body program, people will feel much more at ease with body donation and more assured that they or their loved ones will be cared for and respected at all times throughout the anatomical studies period,” Olson says.

Dr. Sahar Vahabzadeh, assistant professor of mechanical engineering

Finally, Sahar Vahabzadeh, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at NIU, will discuss current research and future developments in bone and dental tissue engineering. She will present common applications of biomaterials and explain why we need to use metals and ceramics.

“Due to the limitations of ‘live tissue’ availability from donors and the infection risks, processing of synthetic materials that can replace any part of the body is key for the future,” Vahabzadeh says. “In our lab at NIU, we are trying to process metals and ceramics that can be used in orthopedics and dental tissue engineering applications.”

NIU STEM Cafés are sponsored by NIU STEAM and are designed to increase public awareness of the critical role that STEM fields play in our everyday lives.

For more information, contact Judith Dymond at 815-753-4751 or email jdymond@niu.edu.

Thanks to a leadership gift from Northwestern Medicine, Northern Illinois University will establish the Northwestern Medicine Performance Center, which will directly benefit all Huskie student-athletes, NIU Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics Sean T. Frazier announced last week.

“Providing our student-athletes with everything they need to compete and develop physically is an important aspect of our overall emphasis on student-athlete welfare,” Frazier said. “We are proud to have strong partnerships and leaders in our community like Jay Anderson and Kevin Poorten of Northwestern Medicine, as well as a committed group of alumni, who join us in supporting that mission. Special thanks go to NIU President Lisa Freeman for her significant support for this project and all things student-welfare related.”

The project will transform the existing weight room in the Yordon Center into a full-service sports performance area, complete with an adjacent Nutrition Center, which is being made possible through the support of Northwestern Medicine as well as a large group of NIU alumni.

“As coaches, we are so happy to see the addition of the Northwestern Medicine Performance Center, and the new Nutrition Center, for our student-athletes,” said Women’s Golf Head Coach Kim Kester. “The added available resources will help all our athletes perform at the top level. Athletes will see first-hand the correct way to fuel their bodies to minimize injury and to help in the body’s recovery process before and after workouts, practices and competitions. We can’t thank Northwestern Medicine and all of the donors enough for their dedication to NIU Athletics and helping our student-athletes.”

In all, NIU has commitments and support totaling more than half a million dollars toward the Northwestern Medicine Performance Center, which is the third major project from NIU Athletics’ Campaign to Sustain to be realized, joining the gymnastics vault pit and the Nelson Club renovation inside the NIU Convocation Center, set to be completed this season.

The latest project includes multiple enhancements to the current weight room along with the construction of the Nutrition Center, which will serve all 400 Huskie student-athletes. The changes will include renovation and adjustments within the existing space on the east end of the Yordon Center and Barsema Hall of Champions. Jay Anderson, president of Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital, said the gift is the latest example of the company’s commitment to DeKalb and to its ongoing partnership with NIU.

“We are excited to partner with NIU and provide their student-athletes with access to world-class care,” said Anderson. “We are looking forward to building a premier comprehensive athletic health and wellness program with the enhancement of the performance center and the opening of the Nutrition Center.”

Support for the project includes both nutritional products for the student-athletes and staffing of the Nutrition Center, both of which are critical elements to the development of current and future Huskies, according to NIU Director of Sports Performance Brad Ohrt.

“I am excited that this project is one huge step closer to fruition,” Ohrt said. “With the generous support of Northwestern Medicine, as well as our alumni and other donors, we will be able to do a much better job of providing nutritional meals, snacks — and most importantly — post-workout recovery products, for our student-athletes. This performance center will allow our student-athletes the opportunity to develop physically, ultimately affecting their ability to compete for championships.”

Brock Hudkins, a wrestling student-athlete, is looking forward to the new center.

“Having the Nutrition Center is going to be really good. If you have to go straight to class from a workout, it’s hard to get that breakfast and nutrition you need. It will make sure I’m consuming the right things and will help [me] mentally and physically,” said Hudkins. “This performance center and Nutrition Center shows how much emphasis there is from the department and from Northwestern Medicine and the other donors, on taking care of us as student-athletes. This is something every athlete will benefit from, and I know we’re all really grateful.”

All 17 NIU teams utilize the current weight room, which services Huskie student-athletes year-round.

“A lot of hard work has gone on behind the scenes to get this [project] done, and I personally want to say thank you to everyone who had a hand in it, especially our new partner Northwestern Medicine; Jay Anderson and his team, Dr. Brian Babka, and Mike Gegner have been unbelievable,” said NIU Football Head Coach Rod Carey. “There are many others, including our football alumni, who gave a lot of money, which is fantastic to see that they rallied, and they knew this was important. Having this will be invaluable from the recruiting side, but the most important thing is that every student-athlete will now have a place right here next to the performance center, in a beautiful setting, that will take our athletes to the next level.”

Frazier said the Northwestern Medicine Performance Center, with the key element of the Nutrition Center, is the beginning phase of a multi-tier plan to enhance NIU student-athlete welfare.

Pending approval by the NIU Board of Trustees, construction on the Northwestern Medicine Performance Center, including the Nutrition Center will begin during the spring 2019 semester.

Partnerships with external organizations improve NIU’s teaching, research and engagement. They help us better fulfill our vision to be the premier student-centered, research-focused public university in the Midwest.

The Board of Trustees has prioritized growth and sustainability of partnerships as a presidential goal for 2018. In order to establish a baseline for tracking NIU partnerships, President Freeman is asking all NIU departments and units to report their partnerships with external organizations, focusing on those partnerships that demonstrate mutual benefit between NIU and external organizations.

A simple online form has been established to allow you to report your partnerships before the extended deadline of Wednesday, Oct. 31.

The form asks you to share your name and contact information, answer a few simple questions about your partnership and provide a very short (150 character maximum) description of the partnership. To make the process easier, if your unit has multiple partnerships, you may submit a bulk spreadsheet.

We recognize that partnerships are unique and vary in intensity and longevity. Therefore, we ask you to classify your partnerships using this basic typology:

• Coordinating: Exchanging information for mutual benefit.
• Cooperating: Sharing resources for mutual benefit.
• Collaborating: Exploring shared vision; mutual financial resource development.

One type is not better or more important than the others; the type of relationship depends on the goals of your partnership.

We also ask you to classify your partnership as “New,” a partnership that began during FY 2017-18, or “Sustaining,” a partnership of longer duration.

More information and answers to frequently asked questions are available on the NIU Partnership Registry webpage. If you have other questions, contact PartnershipsSupport@niu.edu.

Please submit your partnerships on or before Wednesday, Oct. 31.

Cathy Doederlein

As the daughter of two NIU professors, Cathy Doederlein grew up on the DeKalb campus. A regular visitor to her father’s classroom, she idolized the bright, friendly students she met there. At the time, she had no way of knowing that those experiences would inspire her lifelong commitment to NIU.

Today, Doederlein’s love for NIU and her passion to see NIU students succeed is evident to all who meet her. It is this love and passion, combined with a desire to give back, that inspires her to invest in NIU through gifts to the NIU Foundation.

Doederlein is the director of internships and external relations for NIU Career Services. While she began working at NIU in 2011, her connection to the university started long before then. Her parents came here as professors in 1969 and she spent her childhood attending events across campus, sitting in on her dad’s classes and helping her mom with commencement. Later, she attended NIU as both an undergrad and graduate student.

Following her graduation, Doederlein took a position as a human resources manager with the Target Corp. She also made her first donation to NIU.

“I wanted to give back to my academic program and also wanted to support NIU women’s basketball. I have worked to provide continued support to NIU through the years because I believe strongly in the mission of our institution, and I believe in our students,” Doederlein says.

During her 10 years in the corporate world, Doederlein continued her connection to NIU through regular gifts to the university and by frequently returning to campus to participate in recruiting activities as part of her role with the Target Corp. It is no surprise then that when an opportunity arose to work at NIU as the coordinator of internships in the humanities, Doederlein jumped at it and hasn’t looked back.

“I can say it has absolutely panned out to be a true dream experience. Even with the challenges we have faced as an institution, I always love coming to work every day, thanks to my amazing colleagues and thanks to the tremendous students with whom we get to interact on a daily basis,” Doederlein says.

It’s the hard work and determination of these students that Doederlein says is one of the things she loves most about NIU.

“I love getting to see our students succeed. We have a tremendous student body, and their tenacity in pursuit of their goals is inspiring,” she says.

Doederlein hopes that other faculty, staff and alumni feel that they too, are Huskies forever and that they will pay it forward to current and future Huskies when the opportunity arises.

“So many of our students are paying their own way through college, with little financial support from anyone else. I have so much respect for their determination and hard work to make that happen and hope my contributions can give back to that in some small way,” Doederlein adds.

The NIU Foundation is currently in an initiative to raise unrestricted scholarship dollars to provide funding for NIU’s hardworking, determined and grateful students.  You can join Doederlein in supporting NIU students by making a gift to the NIU Foundation.

Northern Illinois University’s STEMfest is an annual celebration of science, technology, engineering and math that strives to introduce all people to the wonders of science. However, for some adults and children, a loud, bright and crowded environment makes it hard for them to feel welcome. That’s why this year, the STEMfest organizers are introducing a new low-sensory hour.

STEMfest will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the low-sensory hour will run from 4 – 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27, in the NIU Convocation Center. During the low-sensory hour, the lights will be dimmed, the stage speakers will be turned off, and exhibitors will be encouraged to replace loud or flashy activities with something quieter.

NIU STEM Educator Sam Watt, one of the STEMfest organizers, says the low-sensory hour is designed to help families and individuals with sensory disabilities, including those on the autism spectrum, feel more comfortable at STEMfest.

“We have a lot to do and a lot to see,” Watt says, “and we want our guests to feel comfortable and welcome. We want them to be able to focus on what we have to offer them instead of on some of the overwhelming sights and sounds inherent to large events.”

Watt emphasizes that during the entire day of STEMfest a quiet room will be available, as well. “This quiet room is a place where individuals or families can step away from the festivities to recharge before heading back to the fun.” He also encourages visitors to take advantage of the detailed exhibition map that will be posted on the STEMfest website one week before the event (Go.NIU.edu/STEMfest ). This will allow families to plan their activities so that they can minimize time in the potentially crowded environment.

The STEMfest team will also be offering a low-sensory science demo show on the South Lobby stage at 4 p.m. “Normally our demo show involves some really big stuff with light and sound, such as popping a giant clown balloon with liquid nitrogen,” Watt says. “During the low sensory hour, we are going to modify the show so it doesn’t involve speakers or loud sounds, and we’ll also move it to a smaller stage.”

Izzy Johnson practicing an experiement.

Izzy Johnson, an NIU student majoring in rehabilitation and disability services and minoring in psychology and deafness, suggested the new low-sensory hour, and the STEMfest team was eager to implement her idea.

Johnson says, “I think it is so important to make STEMfest accessible for all. Last year at STEMfest, I met a mother who was not able to bring her son who has autism. She explained to me that her son was interested in all things STEM-related and that he would really enjoy a lot of the content that was at STEMfest, but the environment would be too overwhelming for him.”

This knowledge motivated Johnson, who has worked as a counselor at NIU STEM summer camps, to apply some of the accommodations that she and other counselors were already using in summer camps to make STEMfest more accessible to people with a variety of disabilities.

“With just a few simple changes, like turning off a few lights and limiting the use of the speakers, I knew that we could create an environment that would be less overwhelming for many people so that they can experience STEMfest,” Johnson says. “This low-sensory hour can be beneficial for anyone who might get overwhelmed in a loud and fast-paced environment, including those with disabilities and small children.”

Beth Schewe, a DeKalb resident and employee in the NIU Division of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development, is pleased that STEMfest is offering this accommodation. “My five-year-old daughter uses hearing aids. She loves STEMfest, but with so much background noise, it can be hard for her to understand conversations, and the sheer amount of noise can be overwhelming. We’re looking forward to coming at a quieter time so she can focus on the STEM activities.”

The low-sensory hour is part of a broader push to make STEMfest even more inclusive this year. The STEMfest organizers are also excited to welcome Zot Artz Studios, led by Dwayne Szot, who will be helping STEMfest visitors make a large interactive art piece throughout the day. Zot Artz makes adaptive art tools so that children with disabilities can create huge, amazing art pieces.

STEMfest will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, at the NIU Convocation Center. NIU departments, student groups, regional corporations, museums, educators and national labs will team up to offer more than 200 science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) related activities.

This year will also mark the first Northern Illinois Mini Maker Faire, which will be held in conjunction with STEMfest. The low-sensory hour will apply to both events.

These family-friendly events are free and open to the public. No registration is required, and parking is free. While most of the exhibits are completely free, books, T-shirts, electronic kits and other STEM-related items will be offered for sale.

SaveSave

After working in public relations for three decades telling other people’s stories, NIU alumna Rita Dragonette is telling her own and will mark the occasion with a series of events at her alma mater.

Dragonette chronicles her own experiences as a college student during the Vietnam War era in her first book, titled “The Fourteenth of September,” a coming-of-conscience novel.

Rita Dragonette

“I was a student during two pivotal events – the first draft lottery in 1969 and the Kent State shooting in 1970,” she said. “Like other college campuses across the nation, NIU was enraged. There were riots and for two days we camped on the bridge near the lagoon. The National Guard was brought in.”

The book, which took 12 years to write, chronicles the inner struggle of Private First Class Judy Talton, who arrives on campus on a military scholarship which is her only means of attending college. By the fall of 1969, she starts questioning the war and her role in it. She secretly joins the campus counterculture on her 19th birthday, Sept. 14, which ultimately leads to her being forced to make a life-altering decision.

Judy’s journey mirrors Dragonette’s experience at NIU – arriving on campus as a nursing major on a U.S. Army scholarship.

“I didn’t believe in the war and became politicized,” she said. “I wanted to follow my passion and become an English major but I was fearful of losing my financial support.”

“Like so many other students at NIU, my family didn’t have the money for four years at college,” Dragonette said. “I had adjusted my dreams to study what my scholarship would pay for. Yet, because it was a military scholarship at the time of an unpopular war, the bargain I’d made with myself became increasingly uncomfortable to the point where I had to make the decision of my life—my personal coming of conscience.”

Dragonette, who has been honored with distinguished alumni awards from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the NIU Alumni Association, graduated with an English degree in 1972.

As the nation marks the 50^th anniversary of the unrest of 1968 and the Vietnam era, Dragonette believes the lessons illustrated in her book are timely in today’s turbulent times.

“The similarity of between [those] times and today is staggering, as is the equal need for meaningful activism and bold personal responsibility,” she said. “In this spirit, as part of the launch of ‘The Fourteenth of September,’ I’m funding a ‘Coming of Conscience’ scholarship for an NIU student.”

Students interested in the “Coming of Conscience” scholarship can contact the NIU Scholarship Office at 815-753-1395 for more information and details on how to apply for funding.

Dragonette will return to NIU on Thursday, Oct. 25, to participate in a series of events related to the book’s launch. She will conduct a reading/book signing at 12:30 p.m. in Altgeld Hall room 315. A panel discussion, featuring Dragonette and NIU faculty and students who were on campus during that time, will take place at 4:30 p.m. in Cole Hall room 100. Both events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact clas-communication@niu.edu.

“The Fourteenth of September” been designated as a finalist for two 2018 American Fiction Awards by American Book Fest, and has received an honorable mention in the Hollywood Book Festival. Dragonette is currently working on three additional books.

Northern Illinois University has classic fun and hard-to-top new happenings in store for Homecoming 2018, themed a “Mission of Tradition.”

Homecoming Week starts Sunday, Oct. 7 and builds up to the NIU Huskies’ football game against the Ohio University Bobcats on Saturday, Oct. 13. But this year’s game comes with a can’t-miss performance in the sky from the Golden Knights.

The U.S. Army’s famous parachute team will leap out of a plane to deliver the game ball to Brigham Field in Huskie Stadium just before kickoff at 2:30 p.m. The event is part of the Huskie ROTC Battalion’s 50th-anniversary celebration this year.

But before you cheer our Huskies forward on the field, there are plenty of ways for you to get involved in Homecoming Week. Show your pride with friendly competitions, pep rallies, performances and much more. Here are some of the events planned:

Paint the Town
Downtown DeKalb
Sunday, Oct. 7 starting at 8 a.m.; Monday, Oct. 8 judging at 10 a.m.
Student organizations from NIU are painting the town red and black with a window-decorating competition at area businesses in downtown DeKalb. Judges will score entries for their Huskie Pride and adherence to a “Mission of Tradition” theme.

Powder Puff Football
Outdoor Recreation Sports Complex
Sunday, Oct. 7, noon-6 p.m.
The Campus Activities Board encourages Huskie women to get in on the football fun with NIU’s annual powder puff game.

Homecoming Kick-Off Rally
Central Park
Monday, Oct. 8, 4 p.m.
Come together with other Huskies to get into the spirit of Homecoming Week, and meet your Homecoming Court candidates up for election on Wednesday, Oct. 10.

Recycled Boat Race
East Lagoon
Tuesday, Oct. 9, 4 p.m.
Teams will compete to build boats out of 70 percent recycled materials, then race them across the East Lagoon for trophies, Homecoming Week “spirit points” and bragging rights.

#SameHere Sit-Down College Tour
Holmes Student Center, Duke Ellington Ballroom
Tuesday, Oct. 9, 7 p.m.
NIU is one of just 15 universities from around the country chosen to host a #SameHere Sit-Down event, part of the Global Health Alliance’s “We’re All A little ‘Crazy’” college campus tour. Celebrity speakers will share the mental and emotional challenges they’ve encountered in their pursuit of success, along with a range of coping strategies they have developed in response.

Yell Like Hell
Convocation Center
Wednesday, Oct. 10, 6 p.m.
Let’s hear our Huskies howl for their favorite musical cheerleading routine in this favorite Homecoming competition and pep rally. Teams will face off for spirit points and the hearts of Huskies across campus.

Coronation Cookout
Central Park
Friday, Oct. 12, 4 p.m.
Enjoy food, games and music at this cookout to round out Homecoming Week. You’ll be the first to hear the winners of our Spirit Awards and see our Homecoming Week Queen and King crowned.

Homecoming Week wraps up with the big football game on Saturday, Oct. 13, along with a full day of other activities. Check out the complete event lineup at calendar.niu.edu/homecoming.