NIU alumnus John R. Butler has been appointed to the Northern Illinois University governing board.

Butler has earned both a bachelor’s in Political Science with a minor in Black Studies and a master’s in Rhetorical Studies from the university, and is now a founding parter of the strategic consulting firm Butler-Anderson, LLC in Chicago.

In addition to the two degrees he earned at NIU, Butler has also served two terms as Student Regent under NIU’s previous governing body, the Board of Regents, and spent seven years as an assistant professor and Director of Forensics in the Department of Communication, according to a news release.

President John Peters has welcomed Butler back with open arms saying, “he is a passionate advocate for students and for programs that strenghten NIU’s teaching and learning environment.

His experience in public higher education and professional work in organizational advocacy will serve NIU very well at a critical time in our university’s history.”

Butler is grateful to be welcomed by Peters and the other Board members. He is passionate about the university’s strategic planning process and its emphasis on teaching and learning, as well as diversity as an important value for the university.

“I am a person who believes that culture matters – that race matters, that national origin matters, that gender and sexual orientation matters – and NIU has distinguished itself by endeavoring to talk about these issues in and out of the classroom, and working to make all people feel welcome on the NIU campus,” he said.

According to the news release, Butler helped lead a campaign in the late 1990s that ended housing and employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity which helped NIU receive recognition in 2006 as one of the country’s most welcoming universities for gay and lesbian students.