Sept. 2, 2015

Dear Huskie Nation,

I don’t know about you, but we have reached my favorite time of year! The school year has started, the NIU campus is once again filled with students and of course, we have NIU teams competing on the fields, courts and classroom.

I love seeing the faces of our newest Huskies when I address each of our teams at the beginning of the school year. I get fired up when the Huskie fight song plays before our soccer and volleyball matches, and my competitive juices get going when I get the chance to watch a few minutes of football practice.

Now entering my third academic year here in DeKalb, I am excited because this is a great time to be at NIU – as a student, as a staff member and as a fan and supporter. There is no doubt in my mind: this university and this athletic department, working hand-in-hand with our community, is poised for greatness.

Over the last two years, many pieces have been put in place. Almost a year ago, we introduced the Athletics Facilities Master Plan, the first one at NIU since the 1980s, which laid out a vision for the physical layout of our athletics footprint and was in lockstep with the Campus Master Plan Thesis. In June, we presented the NIU Athletics 2015-18 Strategic Plan, our “road map” for the department for the next three years. On the cover of our Strategic Plan document are the words “Success Comes to Those Who Expect It.”

Well, here at NIU, we do expect success every day. In the classroom, in competition and in life, the accomplishments of our teams and student-athletes fill all Huskies with pride. Last year, Huskie student-athletes posted a cumulative combined grade point average of 3.19 and NIU led the Mid-American Conference with a Graduation Success Rate of 89 percent. In the community, our teams and student-athletes completed more than 4,500 community service hours. We have raised the bar on the field as well. In 2014-15, nine teams finished in the top half of the MAC, an increase of five programs from the previous year, with our football and men’s tennis teams bringing home conference championships. In short, we are ready for the next big thing.

Please take a minute to read about all of these successes both on the field and off in detail in our 2014-15 Annual Report, which is available online at NIUHuskies.com.

I am extremely confident we have the leadership and the culture in place that will move this athletic department, and our entire campus, forward. The work done in developing the Athletics Facilities Master Plan and the Strategic Plan has been critical to positioning NIU for future success. Now is the time to capitalize on our momentum to push NIU to the next level, and we can’t do it without all of you!

I look forward to seeing Huskie Stadium filled on Saturday night for the 2015 football season opener versus UNLV and at each of our six home games this fall, as well as at Victor E. Court for NIU Volleyball and at the Soccer and Track & Field Complex.

Go Huskies!

Sean T. Frazier
Associate Vice-President/Director of Athletics