Conversations about flashlights generally do not result in the purchase of a $150,000 van. But, when alumnus Jerry Rich asks what the NIU golf programs are in need of, somehow the discussion ends with such a resolution.

Rich, whose golf course, Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, serves as the Huskies’ home course, decided to donate the funds to purchase better transportation. Men’s golf head coach Tom Porten told him that the players had been using flashlights to do homework when traveling at night.

“I said, ‘Well how do the kids study when they’re going to the tournament?'” Rich said to Porten. “He says, ‘Well they use flashlights.’ I said ‘You gotta be kidding.'”

Both men’s and women’s golf teams had been using NIU vans to transport the six-member teams, plus two coaches, to tournaments across the country. Rich’s donation allowed the process of choosing the van to begin.

“He called me out of the blue in August and said ‘I’d like to get you that van,'” Porten said.

The three-month process began with choosing a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. Rich and Porten then customized the van to suit the needs of the golfers. Rich really wanted the van to have the feel of flying first-class, so the seats were given leather upholstery and the ability to recline. Technology was also of concern for Rich.

“Wanted to have Internet access because that’s the world we live in,” Rich said. “I wanted satellite TV, comfortable seats where the fellas, if they didn’t want to study and wanted just to relax, could lean back and be in a comfortable Lazy Boy-type chair.”

The 26-inch Vizio television shows DirecTV, so that the players can keep up on Chicago sports, Rich said.

“It’s like having your living room on wheels, as [NIU golfer] Jeff Dick described it,” Porten said.

Senior Andrew Frame enjoys the van’s comfort, and said its arrangement makes it easier to talk to his teammates.

“We’re not crammed in there,” Frame said. “We’re obviously in a much better mood. We’re watching TV, on the Internet. We get to do whatever we want; we’re not restricted. It creates a much better mood. That’s what you want when you’re together for hours and hours.”

Frame, Porten and Rich also hope having the van will help in recruitment.

“Recruiting good athletes in a northern climate to play golf is very difficult,” Rich said. “Let’s face it, if you’re a good player in high school and you were rated good…you would try to go [south] before you came to Northern. So we have got to offer them a little more as far as the university is concerned.”