NIU Today

Three thousand rubber ducks were tossed into the Kishwaukee River this week. The 13th annual Duck Race took place Sunday behind the WNIJ radio station. Despite the windy afternoon, students and families came out to show their support for Alpha Phi Omega and Safe Passage by taking part in the family fair and cheering on...

From hurricanes to earthquakes to mud slides to floods to tornadoes to wildfires, one of the media images in the wake of a weather tragedy seems common to every disaster: rows of cots and sleeping bags in high school gymnasiums or other community centers where displaced families have taken shelter. Expressions of heartbreak and fear...

NIU’s second-year students can participate in any of nine service events on campus and in the DeKalb and Sycamore communities during the month of February as part of Sophomore Days of Service, sponsored by the Office of First- and Second-Year Experience. “One of the most important tasks of the sophomore year is developing purpose,” says...

Students gathered during the week of Jan. 21 to attend four different events in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. The week was facilitated by a committee of 11 staff and faculty who represented 10 different campus offices (Asian American Center, Center for Black Studies, Career Services, Military Student Services, Women’s and LGBT Resource Center, Latino...

All throughout the fall semester, Student Involvement & Leadership Development (SILD) has been helping students find opportunities to give back to the community. Destiny McDonald, director of Community Service for SILD, said the push for students to get involved starts as soon as students arrive to campus. “As a part of Welcome Days in the fall,...

Approximately 75 students representing different facets of Northern Illinois University gathered Tuesday morning at the New Residence Hall Complex Community Center to participate in the College Challenge, which aired live on the WGN Morning News. The “Minute To Win It”-inspired feature brought WGN morning host Frank Holland to NIU’s campus, where he interviewed students and...

Orientation & First-Year Experience and the NIU chapter of Lambda Sigma Sophomore Honor Society have teamed up this semester to offer second-year students an opportunity to give back to the campus and community. Through “Sophomore Days of Service,” Lambda Sigma members will join with second-year students from other organizations, such as Alpha Phi Omega service...

On a personal note … I would like welcome Zachary Jordan, a senior at NIU majoring in political science and philosophy, who is interning with our Government Relations Office this spring and will be helping with this column and our legislative updates. Zach has been in the NIU Honors Program for three years, in the...

Members of NIU’s Alpha Phi Omega fraternity have set one goal for themselves this summer: to get their hands on as many plastic shopping bags as possible. They are not planning a massive shopping spree; they plan to knit the bags into portable, durable sleeping mats for Chicago’s homeless. It’s anyone’s guess how many empty...

NIU is never short on volunteers or projects to keep them busy. Every spring and fall, hundreds of students donate time at animal shelters, community food pantries, nursing homes and schools, and this year should be no different. “Students who volunteer and expect nothing in return are hardcore volunteers,” said Becky Harlow, assistant director of Student...