Alumni Advocacy
The voice of our alumni has proven invaluable to promoting NIU in their communities. You can strengthen NIU's voice in your community and keep your alma mater at the forefront of important conversations by volunteering for digital and in-person advocacy activities. Join our grassroots advocacy program to stay in-the-know and give NIU more visibility in the Illinois state legislature. Volunteer advocates determine their level of involvement and can help in a variety of ways by simply staying up-to-date on NIU's legislative priorities, e-mailing letters crafted by NIU staff to local representatives, sharing NIU's legislative priorities and their "NIU story" with legislators, and much more!
No matter your level of interest in engaging in advocacy, you can start your journey by signing up for our advocacy newsletter. Most online advocacy activities are organized through our advocacy platform, which can be viewed below! Please note that the platform works best with Google Chrome.
Upcoming Events:
NIU Advocacy Day (Feb. 26, 2025) - Join NIU students, alumni, faculty, and staff volunteers and showcase NIU's positive impact at the State Capitol. Highlight how NIU has made a difference in your life as we walk the halls with state leaders and participate in scheduled and ad-hoc meetings with legislators. Save the date for Wednesday, February 26, 2025 and register by the priority deadline Feb. 14.
NIU Advocate Tools:
Illinois House and Senate District Sheets >
Planning a visit with a state legislator regarding NIU? Please reach out to the Office of the President's Director of State Relations, Katie Davison. You can also find our Illinois State House district sheets & Illinois State Senate district sheets on the Office of the President webpage. Katie is happy to connect with you & support you in your preparations to visit the capitol in Springfield, especially if you intend on connecting about NIU. Don't know who are your elected officials? That is okay! Please use the "Find your Elected Officials" below to learn more.
NIU Advocacy Program Staff >
We are here to support you throughout this process, so please do not hesitate to reach out! If you have a particular staff person with whom you'd like to connect, their information is listed below. For general inquiries, please e-mail advocacy@niu.edu.
Eric Glasby'15, M.S.ED '18, Assistant Director for Student Recruitment & University Advocacy
E-mail: advocacy@niu.edu | Phone: 815-753-1677
NIU Caucus Members>
Click here to learn more about the NIU Caucus. If you would like to identify who are your state legislators, you are welcome to use our online tool! You can find it under the "Find Your Elected Officials" tool at the bottom of the webpage.