Dolan Delaporte and NIU have a lot in common.

The Rockford resident is the head of a family that includes nine NIU alumni and his son, Robert, a current student. This weekend, the Delaporte family will be honored for their long ties to NIU.

Jennifer Spaulding, special events coordinator for the Campus Activities Board, said they organized a contest to find the family with the most NIU graduates. Spaulding said the contest was advertised in the Parents’ Day borchure mailed to families of NIU student.

The Delaporte family has nine graduates and one currently enrolled student. The 10 enrollments have spanned 34 years.

Mr. Delaporte attended NIU from 1951 to 1955. During that time, he met his wife who attended from 1952 to 1955. “I met her in Williston Hall,” he said.

Delaporte is a recently retired professor from Rock Valley College, where he served as athletic director and a coach for 25 years.

His son, Robert is a senior journalism major here at NIU. Robert will be the 10th graduate from his mother and father’s families combined.

The Delaporte family will be visiting Robert this weekend. Mr. Delaporte said it will be a speical time and they plan to have fun.

They will be attending the football game Saturday afternoon, where they will be presented with a plaque at halftime for winning the contest.

“I feel good about NIU,” Mr. Delaporte said of why so many of his family are Huskies. “When you get your degree at Northern you are employable. You will work.”

He claims he has seen positive results from his family’s education at NIU.

Being a Rockford resident, Delaporte is excited about NIU’s plans to expand to Rockford. He also said he is wrapped up in NIU’s football team, which currently is 4-3 and is riding a 12-game undefeated streak at home.

Reflecting on the changes at NIU since he attended, Delaporte jokingly said that when he went to school, “Holmes, as in the student center, was president…he was a real person.”