Although a leap year only happens once every four years, NIU has had many important events happen on the day.

Feb. 29, 1968

Men at NIU weren’t as shy about marriage as it had been rumored. A woman named Marianne Bretsnyder asked men to marry her in light of the old leap year tradition which was that St. Brigid struck a deal with St. Patrick to allow women to propose to men every four years, according to a Feb. 29, 1968, Northern Star article.

NIU also held a Winter Carnival on that day. The Carnival included singing, dancing, skating and fun games in the University Ballroom, now named the Duke Ellington Ballroom. One of the games included finding the “Best of NIU,” according to a Feb. 29, 1968, Northern Star article.

If you understand the date of this piece, it makes sense that the college had a lot of student actives for the students. It almost sounds like it was a winter homecoming.

Feb. 29, 1980

On Feb. 29, 1980, rider No. 25 million to board the Huskie Bus was awarded a prize. The prize was a $25 gift certificate to a store in DeKalb. This was a Student Association Services and Welfare run project, according to a Feb. 29, 1980, Northern Star article. To think 36 years ago there had to be an incentive to ride the bus is pretty humorous.

Feb. 29, 2008

On Feb. 14, 2008, tragedy struck NIU when an armed shooter took the lives of five NIU students in Cole Hall. The campus was still greatly mourning the loss come the 2008 leap year. Throughout February, headlines were still filling up the Northern Star as an entire student body tried to piece back together parts of their campus they felt they lost after the tragedy, according to a Feb. 29, 2008, Northern Star article.

This campus has changed so much over the years; buildings have changed their names, people have left our lives and new traditions have began. If we only get one extra day every four years, I’m pretty proud of this campus for how we’ve used it.