When David Tallacksen visited the primary radio transmitter site for WNIJ and WNIU in July, he knew without a doubt that he was back home in northern Illinois. “At my previous radio station we had one transmitter, on the 90th floor of
Read more
College of Business launches online speaker series
The NIU College of Business has launched an online speaker series, Wednesday Night Wisdom, to keep students, alumni and friends learning and connected in this unprecedented time. When the rapid spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) sent NIU students home in the middle of
Read more
Sport Management alum Jamaal Hines scores job leading after-school programs
Jamaal Hines Jamaal Hines grew up hooked on police procedurals on TV, imagining that he someday would solve crimes like the detectives on “CSI” and “NCIS” on behalf of innocent victims. Enrolling at Old Dominion University in his native Virginia, he earned a
Read more
Lisa Katzenberger, ’96, finds success as children’s author
When Lisa Katzenberger transferred to NIU in 1993, she already knew she was going to be a writer. Her major was easy—journalism, with a minor in English—because she wanted to learn writing in all its forms. It was all she had ever
Read more
Alum shares chief concerns as first responder
When Derek Bergsten, M.P.A. ’07, was pursuing his master’s in public administration at NIU, he learned that communication and collaboration were key to the success of any organization in meeting any challenge. Today, as Chief of the Rockford Fire Department, Bergsten says
Read more
Scott Metlicka joins faculty of School of Music to teach flute
Scott Metlicka, a 1993 graduate of NIU, has returned to his alma mater to join the faculty of the School of Music to teach flute. Metlicka is an accomplished performer and educator with prior teaching experience at NIU. In 2010 he served
Read more
CEET alum on front lines of NIH’s COVID response
Alum Brian Czarnecki ’98, ’00 was featured this month in the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) NIH Record newsletter about his work on the front lines in the midst of the biggest headlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Czarnecki is a lieutenant commander for
Read more
Alum Ra’Mon Jones published in Harvard BlackLetter Law Journal
Class of 2020 graduate Ra’Mon Jones was published in the July 2020 issue of the Harvard BlackLetter Law Journal. His article, “What The Hair: Employment Discrimination Against Black People Based on Hairstyles”, asserts that employment discrimination against Black people based on natural hairstyles
Read more
NIU alumnus to moderate ‘The Black C-Suite: Challenges and Opportunities’ webcast
Produced by the Controllers Council, “The Black C-Suite: Challenges and Opportunities” is a complimentary webcast that will address the gap in representation of African Americans and minorities in the top executive ranks of U.S. corporations. The webcast will feature black executives who will
Read more
Anne Edwards named Director of NIU Center for Black Studies
A familiar face has agreed to lead NIU’s Center for Black Studies. After two years in an interim role, Anne Edwards has been named director of the center on a permanent basis. As interim director, Edwards increased the number of Black alumni
Read more
CLLAS joins ‘Voces of a Pandemic,’ a Latinx oral history project
Looking for individuals and families to share their experiences and struggles related to the pandemic NIU’S Center for Latino and Latin American Studies has partnered with the University of Texas at Austin on an oral history project that preserves the experiences and
Read more
NIU graduate a driving force behind DeKalb’s Black Lives Matter movement
Following the death of George Floyd and the unrest in the country, Vivian Meade woke up one morning in late May and thought, “I need to do something.” A recent graduate of NIU, the 26-year-old quickly became an organizer for the Black
Read more