Michael J. Bakalis returned to NIU Thursday not as a teacher but as a political candidate looking for support from a younger generation.

Bakalis is one of four Democratic candidates vying for his party’s 2002 nomination for Illinois governor. He earned his Ph.D. at Northwestern University in 1966, started teaching history at NIU and eventually became the associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

After speaking to an American Government 101 class Thursday afternoon, Bakalis remembered his times at NIU and the turmoil during the Vietnam War. As he tries to focus on his political campaign, the current American crisis has allowed him to evaluate his priorities.

“NIU was building and expanding when I was here,” Bakalis said. “I loved living here. I remember the upheaval of the ’60s, and that’s something similar to what we’re feeling right now.

“Students today have all kinds of things on their minds & school, work, parents, even the possibility of getting drafted. They need some encouragement and a little prodding.”

Building on making Illinois an “opportunity” state, Bakalis is hanging his campaign reform hat on issues of education, economic development, fiscal responsibility and ethics. His Web site, www.bakalis2002.com, specifically stresses his feelings against negative campaigning and his return to traditional family values.

“You can’t legislate family values, but it’s something you can talk about,” Bakalis said. “Kids are messed up. They’re not getting the attention they need as children.”

Bakalis wants to increase the opportunities for widespread public education by reducing schools’ reliance on property taxes. He believes the state’s share of monetary support should be between 51 and 55 percent.

Although the state is looking to cut higher education spending budgets, Bakalis says that’s the last place he would look to cut costs.

“We have to make it a process of education and re-educating people throughout their lives,” he said. “Students have huge debts when they graduate. We need to hold costs down, even if it means putting a freeze on tuition. We have to have analysis of where the money’s going.”

Small businesses are key to business growth and economic development, Bakalis believes. He also wants to make sure Illinois doesn’t miss out on the multi-trillion dollar e-commerce industry.

In his run for Illinois governor, Bakalis stresses that government can’t be responsible for everything. With the changing demographics in the country, he hopes different facets of the population will be empowered to get involved.

“The challenge of the 21st century will be to prevent the fragmentation of our country,” Bakalis said. “We have to be sensitive to cultures, but immigrants must learn English and speak English.

“If one good thing has come out of the attacks on America, it’s that we’ve become unified. Ethnicity, religion and race are the core of these overseas conflicts. We have to make sure new groups are properly educated and that they have adequate representation in Illinois government.”