Three years ago today, the NIU community was changed forever.

On Feb. 14, 2008, gunman Stephen Kazmierczak opened fire in a Geology 104 class in Cole Hall, Room 101 killing five students and injuring 21, before killing himself. Those killed were Gayle Dubowski, Catalina Garcia, Julianna Gehant, Ryanne Mace and Daniel Parmenter.

NIU President John Peters sent an e-mail Friday to students encouraging them to attend Monday’s memorial events for NIU Remembers: A Day of Reflection and to once again “come together to honor those lost, reflect on our journey of healing and stand together in strength and resolve.”

The presentation of the memorial wreaths will be held at 3 p.m. at the Forward, Together Forward Memorial Garden, next to Cole Hall. The community is invited to gather at 2:30 p.m. in the MLK Commons. A reception will follow in the Regency Room of the Holmes Student Center.

Reflections of those involved

NIU alumna Desiree Smith was in the classroom when the shooting occurred. She still remembers that day very clearly. When the shootings began, the Bolingbrook native dove to the floor, eventually army crawling out of the classroom and running for safety.

“I would say the biggest impact is just sometimes not knowing what my purpose in life is supposed to be, because I feel like I was spared for a reason and I don’t know what that reason is yet,” Smith said.

This will be the first year since the shootings occurred that Smith does not plan on attending the memorial events.

“I want to try and just have a normal Valentine’s for the first time,” Smith said.

Smith currently works in client communications at Jobs Search Television Network.

Tim Godsey, post-baccalaureate geography student, said he plans on attending the memorial. He also had class in Cole Hall, but did not attend class that day.

Godsey said whenever Feb. 14 comes around, the day takes on a different significance than Valentine’s Day.

“It’s something that happened to me and my life that was tragic, and I don’t think anybody would be able to recover fully from that,” Godsey said. “I just take it as it is and reflect upon the blessings that I’ve got and that I’m here another day.”

Godsey, of Waukegan, first learned that the shooting happened in his class after seeing it on the news. After which, he said he was shocked and that it felt like an out of body experience.

NIU alumnus Harold Ng also plans on returning to campus for the third anniversary Monday.

“I don’t think right now it hasn’t really hit because it is just the third year,” Ng said. “It’s just another day kind of thing. I just want to be there to support and come back and do things.”

Ng was one of the students wounded in the shooting. Ng suffered buckshots to the back of his head and neck.

“It happened super fast,” Ng said. “Everything was kind of like a blur.”

After the shooting, Ng said he learned to not take life for granted.

“As time goes on, that incident should make us stronger,” Ng said. “We shouldn’t linger on it and make it a burden to us.”

Ng, who’s from Mundelein, currently works as a park greeter at Disney World in Orlando, Fla. as part of the college program.

Status of Cole Hall

Cole Hall still remains closed since the shooting occurred in 2008. After the university sought feedback from the NIU community on what to do with Cole Hall, it was decided that the building would be renovated.

The renovation process began in the second week of January after the university received the $9 million from the state for the project. Cole Hall will be remodeled so that Room 101 will not support classroom activities and Room 100 would still function as a lecture hall. The renovations will also include changes to the exterior appearance of the building and interior lobby.

Jeff Daurer, director of capital budgeting and planning for the Division of Finance and Facilities, said the Cole Hall renovations are on schedule at this point.

“We’re very pleased, and the contractors are extremely dedicated on this project,” Daurer said. “Everyone on board wants this to be a great success and realizes its importance to the university.”

Demolition is expected to be finished by the end of February and then concrete work will be next, Daurer said.

The university anticipates Cole Hall to re-open in fall of 2011.

Classes that were previously held in Cole Hall prior to the shootings have been moved to other campus locations.

Robert Schneider, associate professor of theater, taught Introduction to Theatre in Cole Hall the semester the shooting occurred. His class that semester was held on a Wednesday and the shooting happened on a Thursday.

When classes resumed after the shooting, his class was assigned to the Art Northern Star file photo Room 100. Schneider said the new room ended up being more suitable for the class he taught.

“Cole Hall was not a good lecture hall,” he said. “I don’t think anybody would tell you it is.”

Schneider said he was glad Cole Hall wasn’t demolished because it would add to the shooter’s power.

“By punishing the architecture, we would somehow make up for our inability to be safe in architecture,” Schneider said.

With the upcoming reopening of Cole Hall, Schneider said he’s happy that the building will be coming back.

“I’m happy that we’ll have more flexibility in scheduling, and I’ll have a shorter walk to my class,” he said.

Editor’s Note: Harold Ng and Desiree Smith worked for the Northern Star.

Multimedia Reporter Susan Cathers and Campus Editor Shaun Zinck contributed to this article.