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NIU sponsors post-election analysis in Naperville

Northern Illinois University will sponsor a post-presidential election discussion in Naperville, with analysis provided by two legendary Illinois political figures — former U.S. Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert and former U.S. Rep. William Lipinski.

The event, which is free, begins at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8, in the Event Room of NIU-Naperville, 1120 E. Diehl Road.

Hastert, a Republican from Yorkville and alumnus of NIU, began serving in 1986 in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1999, he became speaker of the House, the third-highest elected official in the U.S. government. He left office in 2007 after four terms as speaker and 10 terms as congressman.

Lipinski, a Democrat, served as a Chicago alderman from 1975 to 1982 and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2005. He is the father of current U.S. Rep. Daniel Lipinski.

“Hastert and Lipinski are veterans of the political scene in Washington, D.C., and they will have fascinating insights into the election results for president, as well as for local congressional races,” said Matthew Streb, chairman of the NIU Department of Political Science.

Streb, who himself is frequently sought after by the media for political analysis, will serve as moderator during the discussion. Audience questions will be fielded during the second half of the evening.

“It will be interesting to gain the perspectives of two people who know how Washington works from the inside and know how elections can change the future of public policy,” Streb said.

“In addition to talking about the election outcome, we’ll focus on what we can expect from a new Congress as we move forward, either under a second Obama administration or the first 100 days of the Romney administration.”

The event will conclude NIU’s “Presidential Speaker Series,” which brought in national experts on politics for three earlier presentations in DeKalb.

“The events in DeKalb were extremely well-received,” Streb said, “but we chose NIU-Naperville for the final installment of the series because we wanted to share our resources in other areas that NIU represents.”

The Presidential Speaker Series is sponsored by the NIU Office of the President, the Department of Political Science, the Division of University Relations and WNIJ.

More information is available online or by calling (815) 753-1011.

Former U.S. Rep. William Lipinski
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