NIU Today

Members of the NIU community can make a difference in the lives of young children by donating a book to “The Storybook Project,” a service event connected with the 2015-2017 Common Reading Experience. The Storybook Project provides books to young children and grandchildren of inmates in area correctional institutions through a social service agency, Lutheran...

NIU is part of national initiative that examines how undergraduate students engage with religious, non-religious and spiritual diversity while in college. IDEALS (Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Survey) makes it possible to compare the experiences of students from different institutional types-public and private, large and small, secular and religiously affiliated. NIU is one of...

“Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption” by Bryan Stevenson has been selected as NIU’s Common Reader for 2015-2017. Copies of the book, which was recommended by a team of faculty, staff and undergraduate students from a group of approximately 15 titles, will be available to check out from First- and Second-Year Experience (Altgeld Hall...

“Mentoring is valuable in providing students with the emotional and instrumental support needed to reach their goals as students and in life” (from President Doug Baker’s Baker Report, Feb. 6, 2015). Taking to heart President Baker’s words, First- and Second-Year Experience is looking for NIU faculty and Supportive Professional Staff who are interested in volunteering...

Are you an NIU student looking to make a difference? Sponsored by the First- and Second-Year Experience Office, Sophomore Days of Service provides students the opportunity to participate in a number of service events on campus and in the DeKalb and Sycamore communities this February. Although Sophomore Days of Service is targeted for second-year students, all Huskies are encouraged to participate....

NIU students and faculty/staff groups are teaming up with community organizations to present a slate of events in recognition of the National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week, scheduled from Saturday, Nov. 15, through Sunday, Nov. 23. The goal is to educate NIU students about hunger and homelessness in their neighborhoods, their country and around the...

In an era of global religious conflict, the United State is the most religiously diverse nation in human history and the most religiously devout nation in the West. Will faith be a barrier of division or a bridge of cooperation? Eboo Patel, author of “Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle...

“…We know that students thrive when they have mentors to guide them.” (from President Doug Baker’s inaugural address, Nov. 13, 2013). Taking to heart President Baker’s words, First- and Second-Year Experience is looking for NIU faculty and supportive professional staff who are interested in volunteering their time to mentor new students during their transition to...

NIU departments and units that want to reach out to first- and second-year students next year are invited to collaborate with First- and Second-Year Experience to offer a program through the First- and Second-Year Success Series (FSYSS). The series will begin the third week of the fall semester, and will extend through the Spring 2015...

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...

Want to learn how the NIU community can come together on the common ground of service to make a difference? Eboo Patel, author of “Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation,” will speak at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 29, in the Carl Sandburg Auditorium of...

“Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation” by Eboo Patel has been chosen for NIU’s 2013-2014 Common Reading Experience. Patel is the founder and executive director of the Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core, an organization he founded to “catalyze, resource and network this generation of interfaith leaders,...