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The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

"Best of DeKalb 2025" sits in front of a photo of the Union Pacific Station. Voting for Best of DeKalb 2025 is now open. (Northern Star Graphic)

Best of DeKalb 2025 voting now open

By Brynn Krug, Managing Editor | February 23, 2025

Voting for Best of DeKalb 2025 is now open. From Sunday until 11:59 p.m. March 2 NIU students, faculty, staff and DeKalb residents can vote for their favorite things in 22 categories. Vote for your favorite coffee place, late night eatery, student...

A cartoon depicts a football player holding a football and running toward mountains. The Northern Star Editorial Board believes NIU's move to the Mountain West Conference has more pros than cons. (Georgie Fortuna | Northern Star)

Pros outweigh cons in football’s move to the Mountain West

By Northern Star Editorial Board | February 20, 2025

NIU’s Board of Trustees approved a $2 million entrance fee for NIU football to move from the Mid-American Conference to the Mountain West Conference on Jan. 7 after spending over two decades in the MAC.  While the move leaves the remainder of NIU’s...

lllinois Gov. JB Pritzker delivers his annual budget address in front of House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, left, and Senate President Don Harmon, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. Ill. Pritzker advocated for the state to allow community colleges to offer 4 year degrees for certain programs and announced budget cuts. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool)

Pritzker talks budget, rise of American authoritarianism at State of the State address

By Jonathan Durbin and Devin Oommen | February 20, 2025

Springfield - At Governor J.B Pritzker’s seventh state of the state address, he took aim at federal budget cuts, the pharmaceutical industry, talked about education in Illinois and reflected on the rise of authoritarianism in the U.S. NIU FUNDING The...

NIU men's basketball sophomore guard Quentin Jones (1) dribbles, evading Miami University sophomore guard Mekhi Cooper (11) during the Huskies' 84-69 loss against Miami on Jan. 14. Jones totaled a career-high 28 points against Akron University on Tuesday. (Ethan Rodriguez | Northern Star)

Slumping Huskies fall to streaking Zips

By Joseph Segreti, Sports Reporter | February 18, 2025

NIU men’s basketball (5-21, 1-12 MAC) dropped its seventh straight game, losing to the University of Akron (21-5, 13-0 MAC)  by a score of 73-63 as the Huskies’ road woes continued. The Akron Zips extended their win streak to 14 games while staying...

DeKalb resident Norma Gregorio-Perez speaks to a group of protestors gathered at the corner of Lincoln Hwy and 1st Street. Gregorio-Perez said since January immigrants have been living in fear of their safety. (Devin Oommen | Northern Star)

Area residents march through DeKalb in show of unity with immigrants

By Devin Oommen and Mariestrella Corral | February 17, 2025

DeKALB – DeKalb residents took to the streets Sunday, marching with a message of unity in opposition to anti-immigrant sentiment that has fueled political discourse since January. From 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. a crowd marched from the NIU parking garage...

Two participants jump into a pool of freezing water during the Illinois Law Enforcement Torch Run Polar Plunge on Saturday at Huskie Stadium. The event kicked off more than a month of Polar Plunges set to be held across the state of Illinois. (Skyler Kisellus | Northern Star)

Students, locals team up to take Polar Plunge at Huskie Stadium

By Skyler Kisellus, Senior Sports Reporter | February 15, 2025

DeKALB – When junior psychology major Ellie Papandria first heard about the Polar Plunge being held at Huskie Stadium, she and her friends were immediately intrigued, but skeptical of the concept. “It was kind of a joke at first,” Papandria said....

Sophomore kinesiology major Mitchell Rodriguez waits for the No. 11 weekend break circle route bus on Blackhawk Road in 2015. Huskie Buses will now have DeKalb police officers patrolling them as part of a new safety initiative. (Northern Star File Photo)

New DeKalb initiative puts police officers on Huskie buses

By Naomi Kelly, News Reporter | February 14, 2025

DeKALB- In a newly approved initiative, DeKalb police officers will begin to patrol on Huskie buses. This year, the Federal Transit Administration gave the city a $50,000 grant to cover the cost of additional bus-patrol shifts for DeKalb police officers. The...

Members of the DeKalb City Council sit at the city council meeting on Sept. 23. The city council discussed limiting the number of tobacco stores allowed in DeKalb at its meeting Monday. (Northern Star file photo)

City discusses limiting tobacco stores in DeKalb

By Joseph Ndu, News Reporter | February 11, 2025

DeKALB - The DeKalb City Council discussed limiting the amount of retail tobacco stores in DeKalb on Monday. RETAIL TOBACCO STORES The City Council considered setting a limit on the number of tobacco stores able to operate in the city. After...

Cara Collins, director for the Monona Grove High School Jazz Ensemble II, conducts for the band to decrescendo during a section of “La Noche Del Burrito Picante” by Mike Dana. Myles Franklin-Smith, NIU’s clinician for Monona Grove High School, commented that the band stayed together well for the larger ensemble size but could have increased the tempo for the songs to engage the audience. (Totus Tuus Keely | Northern Star)

Young musicians unite to perform in Jazz Day

By Kahlil Kambui, Opinion Editor | February 7, 2025

The College of Visual and Performing Arts held their annual Jazz Day event where high school jazz bands and their directors from all over the Midwest performed for students from other high schools, parents and the faculty of the NIU School of Music.  Roosevelt...

Gamers play against each other in "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate." Esports is a profession and hobby that can be heavily competitive and involves several popular games. (Ethan Rodriguez | Northern Star)

NIU esports, a different way to play

By Alex Lockwood, Lifestyle Writer | February 6, 2025

Esports is a profession and hobby that has been growing steadily over the past few years and features some pretty popular games.  An esport is a competition where several video game enthusiasts compete in heavily competitive tournaments with popular...

NIU women's basketball graduate student guard Chelby Koker (10) drives toward the hoop, battling a University of Illinois Chicago defender amid the Huskies' 69-66 loss against UIC on Nov. 27. The Huskies fell to the University at Buffalo on Saturday by a score of 84-58. (Tim Dodge | Northern Star)

Women’s basketball suffers blowout to Buffalo on the road

By Micah Huff, Sports Reporter | February 1, 2025

NIU women’s basketball (9-12, 3-7 MAC) was blown out by the University at Buffalo Bulls (19-2, 8-2 MAC) by a score of 84-58 on Saturday. While the Huskies limited their turnovers to beat Central Michigan University on Wednesday, NIU failed to do...

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