Hello Huskies!

Between all of the food, family time, football and of course, basketball, of this past Thanksgiving weekend, I had a chance to think about our Huskie Family and the many reasons I am so thankful to lead this athletic department at Northern Illinois University.

I want our alumni, faculty, staff, students and community to know and take pride in the fact that NIU Athletics IS winning – academically, athletically and socially – the right way and in line with the core values spelled out in our Strategic Plan. 

With finals quickly approaching for this semester, I know that our 420 student-athletes are working hard to improve on the academic accomplishments that made the spring 2016 semester one of the most successful in school history.  The cumulative GPA of NIU student-athletes for spring 2016 was an amazing 3.14, including a 3.44 mark for female student-athletes. 

The men's tennis and women's golf teams led the way among male and female squads with semester GPAs of 3.55 and 3.66, respectively, while 13 of our 16 teams (indoor and outdoor track and field are considered one program for GPA purposes) finished the spring with a cumulative GPA above 3.0.  Nine programs saw their GPAs rise from Spring 2015 to Spring 2016.  For even more academic highlights, open the PDF linked above.

The Graduation Success Rate numbers for 2016 released by the National Collegiate Athletic Association earlier this month show NIU once again among the national leaders with a GSR of 87 percent for student-athletes who enrolled between 2006-07 and 2009-10. The Huskies' number is three points above the national average for Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools and second in the MAC overall, with football one of six NIU programs with a GSR that leads the league. 

Huskie teams gave all of us a lot to be thankful for this fall, beginning with the 2016 Mid-American Conference Champion NIU Volleyball team.  What a performance in the MAC Tournament, before an amazing Huskie crowd in Victor E. Court, that sent NIU to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011!  It was the first MAC Volleyball Tournament title for the Huskies since 2001. NIU will play SEC Co-Champion Missouri in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, December 1 in Columbia, Mo. 

The NIU cross country team made tremendous strides this year!  NIU took second place at the 2016 MAC Championships, the best finish in school history. Then, the Huskies took ninth place as a team at the NCAA Midwest Regional, again, the highest in school history. Senior Hope Schmelzle made a charge in the final 100 meters to finish third individually to become the first NIU female cross country student-athlete ever to advance to the NCAA National Championships. 

Two Huskie teams showed tremendous fight down the stretch of their seasons to make us proud. The NIU women's soccer team, playing as the No. 8 seed in the MAC Tournament, defeated No. 1 seed Ball State on the road, and beat No. 4 seed Western Michigan in the semifinals to advance to the MAC Championship game for the first time since 2006.  The Huskies' run ended when they fell to home-standing No. 2 seed Kent State, 1-0, in the Championship game.

I'm proud, too, of the NIU football team which overcame much adversity to win four of their last five games to finish the year with a 5-7 record, including a 5-3 record in the MAC. This team showed a lot of fight, especially in overcoming a 21-0 halftime deficit to defeat Eastern Michigan, and behind our fourth starting quarterback of the season last Friday at Kent State. Be on the lookout for my Q&A on the state of NIU Football in the coming days.

The fight continues on the basketball court and on the wrestling mat this winter, with gymnastics and the spring sports set to get underway in 2017.    

I'm proud of the strides we have made – with the help of our tremendous supporters and corporate partners – in the area of revenue generation.  This is an area of great importance for all of Huskie Athletics as we strive to provide the best possible experience for each of our teams and every NIU student-athlete. A 39 percent increase in total gifts received to the Huskie Athletic Fund since 2013 lifted fundraising revenues to more than $2.3 million in 2015. This includes a 413 percent increase in football premium areas over the last two years, to almost $471,000 in 2015, and an incredible 974 percent rise in revenue from basketball premium areas. The opening of the Nelson Club in 2014 and expanded courtside seating has taken revenues from less than $6,000 in 2013 to nearly 10 times that amount a year ago.

This, along with new initiatives like the inaugural Victor E. Ball last November, a new revenue stream realized as a result of our partnership with Sodexo as the official concessionaire, a $160,000 increase in our promotional allocation from Adidas since 2012-13 and nearly a 150 percent increase in our multimedia rights from 2013-14 to last year, show the strides we have made financially. All told, more than $1,777,327 in additional dollars were raised through these revenue streams in 2015-16 compared to 2012-13.

These increases have been made even in an uncertain budgetary time across our state and on our campus, while supporting new NCAA initiatives like cost of attendance and nutritional support. We will continue to respond to the changing landscape and make decisions based on providing an outstanding student-athlete experience, moving NIU and NIU Athletics forward, and creating a great game-day atmosphere.

Don't forget you have a chance tomorrow, on #GivingTuesday, or at any time before the end of this year, to help us grow the Huskie Athletic Fund and increase our numbers for 2016.  Make plans now to attend the Second Annual Victor E. Ball on April 29, 2017!  Call the Huskie Athletic Fund at 815-753-1923, or go online to huskieathleticfund.com to see how you can assist us with support that is so critical to NIU's continued success on the field and in the classroom.

Thank you again, for all you do to support our teams and student-athletes! Have a wonderful holiday season; I wish you and your family the very best. Go Huskies!
 
 
Sean T. Frazier
Associate Vice-President and Director of Athletics