Happy Fall Huskies!
 
Another semester is flying by! I can't believe that we're already almost halfway through the 2023 football regular season, that the first MAC Championship of the year – women's cross country - is just a few weeks away and that women's soccer Senior Day is Sunday when NIU takes on Miami.
 
We are excited to Welcome Huskies Home next week to celebrate NIU's 116th Homecoming! Our campus partners have done a tremendous job putting together a week of celebrations, from the Homecoming Block Party in Downtown DeKalb Thursday to the S'Mores N'More Campfire at the MLK Commons Friday to sales and discounts for Huskie fans, alumni, students and staff at establishments around town throughout the week.  Of course, NIU Athletics will play its part with women's soccer (Thursday at 1 pm vs. Buffalo), volleyball (Thursday and Friday, 6 pm vs. Eastern Michigan), football (Saturday, 3 pm vs. Ohio) and men's soccer (Saturday, 7 pm vs. Bradley) all playing at home during the week.
 
Admission at soccer matches is always free and both Huskie teams are in the thick of their conference seasons. The women are looking to qualify for the MAC Tournament with six league games left after today's (October 4) game at Eastern Michigan, while the men's team is adjusting to life in the Missouri Valley Conference, facing new conference opponents – including in-state and regional teams - nearly every week.
 
After battling through the non-conference season, the NIU Volleyball team won three consecutive matches, pulling out five-set wins over Bowling Green and Miami over the last two weekends. The Huskies still have seven home matches in Victor E. Court beginning next Thursday. See the complete schedule and get tickets here.
 
I hope you saw the news that kickoff of next Saturday's Homecoming football game has been pushed back by 30 minutes, to 3 p.m., to accommodate a national television broadcast on ESPNU. The Homecoming game is the first of back-to-back home games for the Huskies as Eastern Michigan comes to town on Saturday, October 21 as a crucial stretch of games continues for NIU. Purchase tickets to any of the four remaining home games here.
 
We're getting ready for basketball season with two free upcoming events.  Next Tuesday, October 10th, Huskie Athletic Fund donors and season ticket members are invited to join head coaches Rashon Burno and Lisa Carlsen, their staffs and athletics administrators at Fatty's in DeKalb for the Basketball Tip-Off beginning at 5:30 p.m.  There will be free food, a cash bar, season tickets available for purchase and a chance to hear directly from the coaches.  Please register for the events here.
 
Then on Thursday, October 26th, "Huskie Madness" returns to the NIU Convocation Center with a chance to see the men's and women's players compete in three-point shooting and dunk contests, fan interaction and a student-centered component. NIU students in attendance will be eligible to win one of several cash giveaways, courtesy of NIU Athletics! The evening will include a well-known local DJ and a Halloween costume contest. Watch for more details to come on this event!
 
I am ALL IN on these NIU Basketball teams, and I hope you are too. The men's team returns key players from the team that finished 9-9 in conference play a year ago and have been picked to contend in the MAC by several preseason publications.  The women's team looks to return to the fast-paced style of Lisa Carlsen's early Huskie squads, with nine returnees joined by a trio of newcomers. Get your basketball season tickets today and I'll see you in the Convo beginning in November and all winter long!
 
We have one other October special event on the calendar and it's a big one. Our 7th Annual Week of Giving, Huskies Invest, is set for October 23-27 as we ask Huskie Nation to help us to surpass the $1 million mark in support of NIU student-athletes and our sports programs for the third time. The reason we are able to set a $1,000,000 goal is simple – YOU. Year after year, you have come through, donating to sports programs, to specific facility projects, to our spirit groups, recreation and more. While all these are important, your unrestricted gifts to the Huskie Athletic Fund allow us to fill the greatest need and are absolutely critical to moving NIU Athletics forward. You can check out all of the areas now by clicking here and your gifts today or throughout the month will all count toward our Week of Giving goal!
 
Our development staff, with assists from head coaches and the rest of the external team, does most of the heavy lifting for Huskies Invest, and I'm very pleased that we have been able to bring on Wisconsin native Chris Barker as our new senior associate athletic director for development and revenue generation. He has come in with a lot of energy and some great ideas; I hope you have a chance to meet him at one of our games or events soon. Chris' arrival has allowed senior associate athletic director TJ Feuerbach to move into a role concentrated on major gifts which is extremely important to us as we move forward with different facility projects and initiatives to enhance the student-athlete experience.
 
Finally, congratulations to NIU lifer Dr. Randi Napientek, a triple Huskie alumna who has been promoted to senior associate athletic director/director of student-athlete academic support services.
 
It is a great time to be a Huskie and there is so much to look forward to – this year and in the future. I hope you'll be right there with us!
 
Go Huskies!

 





Sean T. Frazier
Vice President/Director of Athletics and Recreation