Featured in this FINAL batch of facts: Carl Sagan gave the keynote address at NIU’s Centennial Convocation in 1995; Cary Groth was named NIU’s first female athletic director in 1994; and Dr. John Britton, a former Olympic athlete left paralyzed in an accident, led the efforts to make NIU’s campus more accessible to people with disabilities.
NIU ATHLETICS
Francis Stroup, the writer of the NIU fight song lyrics, lived to be 101 and long enough to see his famous lyrics honored as one of the nation’s top 25 college fight songs in a 2000 ESPN national poll.
Cary Groth was named NIU’s first female athletic director in 1994. She was one of just four female athletic directors in the nation at the time. Groth was a two-sport athlete at NIU (tennis and basketball) and served her alma mater for 23 years as a coach, administrator, and AD. Her tenure led to many athletic achievements for NIU which garnered her national acclaim. She was inducted into the NIU Hall of Fame in 2009.
NIU CAMPUS
Dr. John Britton was the first leader of efforts to make NIU’s campus more accessible to people with disabilities. A former Olympic athlete left paralyzed in an accident, “Project Britton” was responsible for the lowering of water fountains and telephones; the installation of curb cuts and ramps, and the creation of parking for the handicapped.
Located just outside of the Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center, The Rich Ryan Sculpture garden features seven sculptures completed by NIU alumni and faculty. Two of these sculptures are permanent, the rest are rotated out every two to three years.
The Montgomery Hall Greenhouse is made up of three structures totaling 6,000 square feet. The research and teaching facility includes an indoor pond and terrarium area which contains approximately 117 plant families.
BONUS FACTS
Scientist, scholar and Pulitzer-Prize winning author Carl Sagan gave the keynote address at NIU’s Centennial Convocation on September 22nd 1995. The celebration was hosted by Oscar-nominated actress and NIU alumnae Joan Allen. (After his keynote address, Carl Sagan participated in a Q&A session which you can watch HERE!)
In 1996, jazz great Quincy Jones asked the NIU Jazz Ensemble to serve as his band at the Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Phil Collins took note of their performance and invited the ensemble to play for his world-wide summer Big Band tour!
Some of NIU’s most notable alumni include: U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, U.S. Representative Robin Kelly, actor Matt Walsh (Veep, Ted, Into the Storm) , actor Joe Minoso (Chicago Fire), WGN Morning News weather anchor Morgan Kolkmeyer, writer/director Kurt Sutter (Sons of Anarchy, The Shield, Southpaw), and Detroit Lion’s wide receiver Kenny Golladay – just to name a few.
Currently in the works on NIU’s Far West Campus is the Northern Illinois Center for Community Sustainability. This will include a 30,000 square-foot building as well as experimental gardens and other possible facilities such as a solar energy “garden.”