Seven years after he had to spend a week living off the change he kept in a jar, Dennis Barsema and his wife Stacey celebrated their $20 million gift to NIU Monday at Barsema Hall.

“I’ve always felt that NIU has the best business school,” Barsema said, “and all it needed was a building. Now we have it.

The event began with a short lecture by Barsema titled, “Righting the ship: How do we rebuild after the telecom fall?” and ended with a final celebration of the donation of funds to build what is now the home of NIU’s College of Business.

Before his presentation, Barsema spoke to a packed house expressing his gratitude toward friends and university members who helped support and make the construction possible. However, he made an extra effort to thank his wife, sons and mother for their support, followed by a “shout out” to his relatives who traveled to DeKalb from the West Coast for the event.

Barsema also said how important it is for students to take advantage of the new opportunities available because of the new building. He spoke of how Stacey Barsema believes that “we are all responsible to build a step for others to stand on,” and that the building is the Barsema family’s contribution to this stairway.

“It is our expectation that you will all rise one step higher,” he said.

Barsema went on to say that everyone can make a difference, but it requires perseverance.

“You just can’t quit,” he said.

After the lecture, Barsema took a few questions from the audience before the program moved down to the atrium. Wrapped in the smell of coffee brewing in the shop named after their sons, Dennis and Stacey Barsema received formal thanks from NIU President John Peters, Eddie Williams, the executive vice president of Finance and Facilities, David Graf, the dean of the College of Business, business administration student Monica Wallace and Hazel Loucks, deputy governor of education for Illinois.

Dennis Barsema concluded the ceremony by placing his family’s gift to NIU as an example for other alumni to follow.

“We encourage you to dig deep and help out not just the College of Business, but the university as a whole.”