Dear Students and Colleagues,

Events of the past several days remind all of us that community is more than a word, and that threats against any group are a threat to us all. As we continue our return to normal operations, I want to share some thoughts about what has occurred and what meaning we might take from it.

Like so many of our students at NIU, I was a first-generation college student. The awe I felt the first time I stepped on a university campus has never left me. I see that same awe in the faces of every new student I meet, and I bask in the reflected pride of every graduate who walks across the stage at commencement.

The great tradition of American public higher education is preparation of citizens who will live in and perpetuate a free, open and diverse society, and to be part of that important tradition is a source of unending pride. Events of the past several days cause me much distress because they are so contrary to the standards and commitments of this institution and of American higher education.

Last weekend, graffiti was discovered in one of the NIU residence halls. The graffiti consisted of a message that, because of its specificity, was deemed to be a credible threat against the NIU community. As a result, it was determined initially that NIU should inform the campus of the situation and increase security. Subsequent information led to the decision to close the university.

Closing the university for a day gave us time to isolate key facts and develop a more complete picture of the threat, its possible origins and its implications for a campus headed into final exams. Today, we resumed operations under heightened security, with police presence in and around all testing sites.

Vigorous investigation continues through the combined efforts of several law enforcement agencies, and it is my hope and expectation that whoever is responsible will be identified and held accountable. I ask your continued vigilance and cooperation, and I will continue to provide the NIU community with information as it becomes available that is open, accessible, timely, and forthright.

The Preamble of our NIU Constitution says our university’s purpose is to “preserve, augment, criticize, and transmit knowledge, foster creative activities, be a community of scholars, and be free to exercise independent judgment.”

It declares that NIU will “respect the intrinsic dignity of each member of the university community,” and that “each member of the community must be recognized as a person of equal and limitless individual human value, possessing significant intellectual potential, and entitled to all the rights and privileges guaranteed to them under the laws of the United States and the State of Illinois.” Those are purposes and commitments that we at NIU embrace and cherish.

I know that we will rally and demonstrate that we are above the events of this past week. I invite all of you to rededicate yourselves to the principles of the academy and to the purposes and commitments of our University.

Sincerely,

John G. Peters

President