NORMAL—NIU got a pat on the back Wednesday from Board of Regents members in its bloody battle over Rockford and Hoffman Estates expansions.

“Congratulations. We stayed on the high ground,” said John Pembroke, the Regency system vice chancellor for administration affairs.

Pembroke’s comments came after Regents Chancellor Roderick Groves informed the board the green light is on for NIU to move into Rockford and Hoffman Estates.

Groves was referring to former Gov. James Thompson releasing money for designing the Rockford extension and NIU’s success in convincing the Illinois Board of Higher Education not to reconsider its decision to allow NIU to go to Hoffman Estates.

In both cases, NIU was bitterly confronted by opposition. The discussions sometimes got ugly, with calls for the state legislators or the IBHE to essentially draw boundaries on where state schools can build off-campus sites.

Just prior to when Thompson released the money for Rockford, NIU President John La Tourette said the campus should be in downtown Rockford instead of on the outskirts.

He changed his mind after being convinced NIU’s site selection was exhaustive, La Tourette said.

The Hoffman Estates plan brought cries of “turf wars” from private institutions, claiming NIU’s sudden leap to the suburbs would take students away from private schools.

The NIU extension will be part of Sears Roebuck and Company’s Park Center. La Tourette said the site will include NIU as well as hotels conference centers, shops, restaurants and a recreation center.