DeKALB – On Thursday, the Northern Star elected Photo Editor Totus Tuus Keely as the fall 2026 editor in chief.
The Northern Star holds an election at the end of every semester to determine the next editor in chief. Aside from Keely, other candidates were Isabella Froh, who is the current news editor, and Sofia Didenko, who is the current lifestyle editor.
Keely is a junior mechatronics engineering major from Ottawa, Illinois. Arriving in spring 2024 as a photojournalist, Keely spent his time at the Northern Star moving up the ranks and providing the Star’s sections with his work in photography.
Keely explained that his time at the Northern Star made him realize the publication much more than photography.
“I’ve spent so much time focused on the Star. And when I originally joined, I joined for a photo club, and quickly realized it’s so much more than that,” Keely said. “The institution has that long history, and so I really just want to contribute as much as I can to the Star, because I’ve developed a sincere love for it.”
Keely looks to interact more with the NIU and DeKalb communites with his time as editor in chief.
“My major pushes will be toward public interaction, finding, educating the public on how to interact with journalism, the opportunity we provide to have them voice their opinion,” Keely said. “We are the students’ opinion. We are the voice of NIU students. And I want to hit education really hard, not just our staff, but also teaching people how to interact with news.”
Providing his message to the community, Keely lets the public know of the Northern Star’s priorities.
“We are always devoted to capturing every story as they’re transporting our readers to the event as best as we can and serve and with us being on an academic property and institution, our No. 1 goal is education, and that is education for anyone who wants to learn journalism,” Keely said.
