The NIU journalism department, The Northern Star and the entire NIU community lost a dear friend with the death of Irv Kummerfeldt this weekend.

Kummerfeldt made many contributions to the university and journalism during his 27-year stay at NIU. Perhaps one of the most notable of these contributions was his persistence in the fight for a free student press at this university.

Several years ago when a former NIU president attempted to suppress The Northern Star by removing the newspaper’s adviser from his position, Kummerfeldt, who was the journalism department chairman at the time, stood firmly next to the Star and its right to inform the public. Because of the support of Kummerfeldt and many other friends of the free press, Adviser Jerry Thompson kept his position and the Star retained its constitutional rights.

In addition to serving NIU’s News Bureau and journalism department for more than a quarter of a century, Kummerfeldt helped promote cultural diversity in DeKalb in his work with the Egyptian Theatre. He served the theatre in numerous ways. It seems fitting that Kummerfeldt died Saturday night while doing something he enjoyed—working at the theatre.

To those who knew him, Kummerfeldt will be remembered as being a friend as much as a manager or educator. Those who didn’t know him missed out on a lot.

We will miss his warm personality, his distinctive laugh and his endless batch of stories, which made it a pleasure rather than a nuisance to attend his classes and learn from him.

Goodbye, Irv, and thank you.