NIU Today

Alum reflect on program’s life-changing impact through the years “The CHANCE Program changed my life.” This sentiment—often shared by graduates of NIU’s McKinley “Deacon Davis CHANCE Program—sums up what the program means to so many. It’s a sentiment former CHANCE student David Seymour believes in so much that he had it printed on a T-shirt....

“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.” Freeman’s appearance at Rainbow/PUSH came at...

When President Trump acted this fall to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, Cynthia Taines immediately looked beyond the inflamed political discourse. Taines, an associate professor in the NIU Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations, thought instead, of the youngest of children, of adolescents and, naturally, their teachers. “Undocumented students disclose...

NIU freshmen and sophomores enrolled in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) majors recently got a boost from an innovative program offered to help their study skills. Last month during their annual conference, PROMISE Scholars participated in a day-long workshop, the Guaranteed 4.0 Learning System, which teaches a three-step approach to learning. During the workshop,...

Leadership conference scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 10 As part of their planned first-year engagement activities, the McKinley “Deacon” Davis CHANCE Program will host their seventh annual Transition Leadership Conference. This year’s theme will focus on career assessment, majors and academics. Brian Pillsbury from Career Services, Dr. Rebeca Vaughn and Michele Duffy from College Learning Enhancement Program,...

Cordiah Hayes, a senior communication major from Chicago, has made the most of her four years at NIU. In addition to her classes in media studies, she has spent the past two years tutoring first-year students in the CHANCE program in the Writers’ Workshop. “When I applied for a tutoring position two years ago, I...

NIU’s McKinley “Deacon” Davis CHANCE Program and the National Science Foundation PROMISE Scholars Program have implemented a new peer mentoring network for NIU freshmen. CHANCE’s mentoring program focuses on providing support to all students in any major. PROMISE’s mentoring program focuses on providing support to students majoring in science, technology, engineering and math. The goal of...

The CHANCE Program will host an ice cream social from noon to 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, in the lobby of Williston Hall. All are welcome. The guiding mission of CHANCE is to identify, recruit, admit and assist otherwise capable students whose pre-college education has not fully enabled them to take maximum advantage of their...

NIU alum Jesse Ramos, class of 2002, has contacted his alma mater about a recent CNN article that highlights him and other minorities as part of a series on the lack of diversity in corporate America. “I just wanted to share this story with you and to also let you know how grateful I am...

NIU’s Presidential Commission on the Status of Minorities (PCSM) has named graduate student Marc Reynolds and faculty member Chris Liska Carger as the recipients of the 2014 Deacon Davis Diversity Award. Named in honor of Deacon Davis, founder and former director of the CHANCE (Counseling Help & Assistance Necessary for a College Education) Program, the award...

When the McKinley “Deacon” Davis CHANCE Program first opened its doors at NIU in 1968, it admitted only 50 students. They all had something in common: the interest in pursuing a college education but a pre-college preparation that fell short of allowing them to enter college through the traditional admissions process. Forty-five years later, CHANCE now...