125 Key Moments
Significant anniversaries are often commemorated with historical retrospectives for future generations. For NIU’s 125th Anniversary, we are creating a digital repository of 125 Key Moments in NIU history – key turning points that made NIU what it is today.
Members of the NIU community were invited to submit potential entries, and a committee of distinguished faculty, staff, trustees and retirees selected the 125 most compelling nominations. The selection committee chose events that did the following:
- Enhanced NIU’s reputation
- Had a lasting effect
- Set direction for some significant period
- Were a cause for celebration
- Were a cause for deep reflection
- Represented either a joyous or a difficult time
- Had significant impact of students and/or the university community
- Built institutional pride
Each month in 2020, we released the stories of 10 or 11 key moments, illustrated with photos and video from the NIU Archives and Regional History Center.