NIU's community never stronger

It's not always the first question, but it's usually in the top five.

It's somewhere after, "Do you know Michael Jordan?'' and "Cubs or White Sox?''

Just a couple days ago, I was speaking to a group of middle school students, when a youngster asked where I attended college.

NIU, I said. That's Northern Illinois University, for those unaware.

After our gathering, as we continued with individual queries, one young lady was curious about NIU's location, and when I informed her, she replied, "DeKalb? Where's that?''

It's a question being asked around the world right now as national news networks broadcast live from a community that up until now was known mostly for its corn and Cindy Crawford, though not necessarily in that order.

Most universities become national brands because of their athletic prowess and postseason television appearances, but that's rarely been the case for NIU.

And while hundreds of thousands of us in the Chicago area attended Northern, we don't generally wear our school colors, unlike a certain university clad in orange and blue.

But that changes beginning today.

It's time to break out the Huskie apparel and wear it proud; and with no hesitation, I can state I've never been prouder of NIU.

In the wake of the murders Thursday at Cole Hall -- a huge room in which anyone who's ever attended NIU has been seated for at least a semester -- we have witnessed the 25,000-plus students, faculty and administration come together as one, exhibiting the dignity, care and kinship we all experienced as students in DeKalb.

And now the rest of the world is feeling it as well.

It's a top-notch university with a world-class student body and faculty, though it's something of a well-kept secret nationally.

When I went to NIU it was considered a school for those who couldn't afford Champaign, and that was true for many of us.

But it also was thought to be less educationally relevant -- a perception that wasn't accurate then and one I don't believe exists today.

"I'm on the board of the College of Business, and I can guarantee you it's one of the top business schools in the country,'' said Eric Wasowicz, a Palatine resident and 1980 graduate in computer science. "Computer science, accounting, nursing, education -- all those programs are as good as any you'll find anywhere.

"(Athletic director) Jim Phillips is doing a phenomenal job, and the sports facilities have been upgraded to absolute first-class. This is not a secondary institution by any stretch.

"NIU is an incredibly good school and taking it to another level.''

After leaving NIU, Wasowicz took it to another level, along with Howie Blietz and Eric Warner. They co-founded Greenbrier & Russel, a custom design software and consulting firm, named after the cross streets at which we lived.

We all were fraternity brothers, Pikes (Pi Kappa Alpha), but apparently my exceptional knowledge of how to get my front teeth knocked out by a hockey stick, or having my cervical vertebrae manipulated with a cross check, didn't intrigue them because I never was offered a position at G&R.

They sold last year to Fujitsu for untold millions, and Wasowicz now helps teach an entrepreneurial class at NIU a couple days a week.

"Howie and I were there in December when they had the first lockdown, because of a threat left in a bathroom,'' said Wasowicz, who was not on campus Thursday. "They shut it down for a day during finals, and they all took it very seriously, so they'd been through the drills and the procedures.

"I have to say that they did an incredible job Thursday, both the administration and the police. The whole place was locked down in 5 minutes, and they were very well prepared.

"(NIU president) John Peters did a great job, but there's just nothing you can do to stop what happened there. Nothing. It's sad, but we all know it's true.''

Wasowicz doesn't have to hear the stories of carnage to know what occurred. His brother-in-law is a track coach at Virginia Tech, and his sister-in-law lost a very close friend in last year's massacre.

"They called (Thursday) night to see where I was, and it all came rushing back for them when they heard about NIU,'' Wasowicz said. "It's all too close to home. And now, we've lost one of our fraternity brothers, too.''

Dan Parmenter, a 20-year-old Pike from Westchester, who also worked for the NIU student newspaper, the Northern Star, was killed Thursday. He was, by all accounts, a terrific athlete and an exceptional human being.

But no words we can share will bring back those taken too soon, and no hopes we can dream will assuage the eternal pain a parent feels upon losing a child.

"He was the best son,'' his father, Gary, wrote in an e-mail Friday afternoon. "I was always so proud of him. He lived life with integrity and dedication to everything he did.''

It seems always that way when there's a mass murder, that only the good die young.

"I'm just so (bleeped) off,'' Wasowicz said, searching for words. "But there's nothing you can do, nothing else anyone could have done.''

Our old Pike house no longer sits at Greenbrier and Russel, where in 1995 I took Ryne Sandberg when we were on campus for a book signing.

I hadn't been there in about a decade and was stunned to see how NIU had grown -- and how the smell in the Pike basement, along with the beer-sticky floor, was precisely the same.

I told stories, Sandberg signed autographs, everyone laughed and the Pikes had another odd chapter in their NIU history.

We left DeKalb with Huskie paraphernalia, all of which I'll don this week.

In fact, it's time for a drive to DeKalb and an updated sweatshirt, or maybe a new golf hat.

For decades, other Midwest universities have looked down their noses at NIU, and so the school needs us more than ever to band together and visit the campus, drop some cash and lend support.

There's never been a better time for us to break out the NIU red and black.

And show the world our true colors.