Here’s a question to ponder: If you could simply Google a college education – if you could just click your way to a head full of fast facts and figures – would you?

I’ll bet not.

Despite all the advances in technology that provide us 24/7 encyclopedias and Wikipedia, even at McDonald’s and Starbucks, you want to discover things for yourself. You want to immerse yourself in a vibrant culture of learning and growing. You want a transformational experience.

You’ve made the right choice. NIU is a place where your curiosities, passions and talents are not only welcomed but required; where they are challenged and debated and, perhaps, adopted by teachers and classmates; where they are blended and nourished and, ultimately, cultivated.

Your exploration – your adventure – starts now.

We have wonderful teachers who care about and nurture students. Your professors are among the top in their fields. They are committed to thinking “outside the box” and outside the classroom through hands-on learning activities and service-learning projects.

I urge you to visit www.niu.edu to read about our Presidential Teaching Professors, our Presidential Research Professors and the winners of our Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and Instruction awards.

You’ll also find stories of students and professors who created award-winning documentaries and TV commercials; who journeyed to less-fortunate countries with gifts of necessity and hugs of kindness; who developed new parts for modern machinery.

Clearly I’m quite proud of this institution. NIU is a living laboratory located in one of the most dynamic regions in our country, and we are a good neighbor.

We are partners with numerous school districts in our area of Illinois, including DeKalb.

We are building a proton therapy cancer treatment and research center in West Chicago to offer an advanced and highly effective form of radiation therapy currently unavailable in Illinois.

We are the creators of a foundations course in homeland security and disaster preparedness that has been adopted by universities across the state.

All of these projects and more are part of what is making NIU the nation’s premier global-regional public university, and now you share in these exciting times for our university.

Believe me: I’m proud you are here, and I’m expecting great things. Welcome to NIU!