Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) is a

public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois, United States. NEIU serves approximately 5,000 students in the region and is both a federally designated

Hispanic-serving institution A Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) is defined in U.S. federal law as an accredited, degree-granting, public or private nonprofit institution of higher education with 25% or higher total undergraduate Hispanic or Latino full-time equivalent (FTE ...

and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institution. The main campus is located in the community area of North Park with two additional campuses in the metropolitan area. NEIU has one of the longest-running free-form community radio stations, WZRD Chicago 88.3 FM.

History

The university traces its history to Chicago Teachers College (now

Chicago State University Chicago State University (CSU) is a Historically black colleges and universities, predominantly black (PBI) public university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It includes an honors program for undergraduates and offers bachelor's and master ...

), which as

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...

Normal School was founded in 1867 to train elementary and high school teachers. In 1949, Chicago Teachers College (CTC) established the Chicago Teachers College (North Side) branch. The school relocated to the present site at

North Park, Chicago North Park is one of 77 well-defined community areas of the City of Chicago. It is bordered by the North Shore Channel on the east, the Chicago River's North Branch and Foster Avenue on the south, it reaches as far as Cicero Avenue on the west ...

in 1961 and changed its name in 1965 to Illinois Teachers' College: Chicago North when control of CTC passed into the hands of the State of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. In 1967, the Illinois Legislature acted to remove the title of “teachers college” from all state colleges and universities and the college became Northeastern Illinois State College. In 1971, the school became Northeastern Illinois University after it was granted university status and was given a mandate by the Illinois Legislature "to offer such courses of instruction as shall best serve to qualify teachers for the schools of the State; and to offer such other courses of instruction, conduct such research and offer such public services as are prescribed by the Board of Governors of State Colleges and Universities or its successor." In January 1996, Northeastern Illinois University established its own board of trustees. In 2014, NEIU was censured by the

American Association of University Professors The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States that was founded in 1915 in New York City and is currently headquartered in Washington, D.C. AAUP membership inc ...

for violating a professor's academic freedom in a tenure denial case. In September 2016, Northeastern first began to offer on-campus housing for its students. It was constructed on land that was formerly a University parking lot. Initial plans to expand and construct new dormitories on land seized through eminent domain from the neighborhood were delayed because of strenuous objections from the neighborhood, social activists, some of the faculty, students, and alumni. Beginning the pursuit of the neighborhood land in 2014, the properties were acquired by the University through eminent domain in 2016. Construction is still several years away due to decline in student enrollment. In the meantime, long time residences and businesses have been displaced, and the affected buildings sit empty.

Academics

Undergraduate and master's degrees are offered in four colleges: *College of Arts and Sciences *College of Business and Technology *Daniel L. Goodwin College of Education *College of Graduate Studies and Research

Campus

NEIU comprises the following instructional buildings: *Lech Walesa Hall: It has the College of Education, Graduate College, and the International Programs of the university. *Bernard J Brommel Hall: It has the College of Arts and Science departments. *Salme Harju Steinberg Fine Arts Center: It has the Communication, Media & Theatre, and Music & Dance departments. *The Nest: It is NEIU's residence hall. Inside the residence hall students have access to a fitness center and a study area. *Ronald Williams Library: It is NEIU's Library. The library consists of five floors with multiple computer labs, audio labs, and a cafe. *El Centro: This campus is located in Chicago’s neighborhood of Avondale. The facility offers courses for four programs. It accommodates a student lounge, study spaces, meeting rooms, gathering spaces, computer labs, and a library resource center. *Jacob H. Carruthers Center of Inner City Studies (CCICS): This campus is located in Chicago’s neighborhood of Bronzeville. The center is the only facility that offers the Inner City Studies and Urban Community Studies programs. Additionally it offers courses for five other programs. *Alumni Center: It is a meeting place and resource center for all NEIU alums. The center has pictures and memorabilia from famous alums. *Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh Servant Leaders Hall: It is located in the College of Business and Technology. The hall is the first and only hall in the world named after

Mohammad Mossadegh Mohammad Mosaddegh (, ; 16 June 1882 – 5 March 1967) was an Iranian politician, author, and lawyer who served as the 30th Prime Minister of Iran from 1951 to 1953, elected by the 16th Majlis. He was a member of the Iranian parliament from ...

, premier of Iran from 1951 to 1953. This hall was named and established on October 5, 2013.

Athletics

Northeastern Illinois competed in the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

for 20 years until joining the higher profile

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

in 1988. After a transitional season at the Division II level, NEIU moved its athletic program to Division I. The Golden Eagles played as independents until finding a place in the short-lived

East Coast Conference The East Coast Conference (ECC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located primarily in the state of New York, with a single ...

for the 1993–94 season. Northeastern Illinois were then invited to join the Mid-Continent Conference, now known as the

Summit League The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States, from Minnesota in the east, to the Dakotas, Nebraska and Colorado to the West, and Mis ...

, where it would play for the next four years. The University eliminated all intercollegiate sports in 1998. The Northeastern Illinois Golden Eagles men's basketball team played from 1988 to 1998 and held home games in the Physical Education Complex. Chief among the highlights of this era was the baseball team's 1996 Mid-Continent Conference championship and NCAA Tournament bid, where they beat Northern Illinois in a play-in series to reach the tournament. Men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player Andrell Hoard won the

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

National Slam Dunk Competition, but lost the conference championship to Valparaiso University by one point in a nationally televised game where ingloriously the Golden Eagle's Mascot committed a technical foul by body slamming the other mascot at center count like a linebacker on national TV, making ESPN's daily highlights. The women's basketball coach Denise Taylor was chosen to lead the

Utah Starzz The Utah Starzz were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Salt Lake City. They began play in the 1997 WNBA season as one of the league's eight original teams. History One of the eight original WNBA teams, the Starzz ...

of the WNBA in 1997, and women's basketball player Delores Jones was a participant in the 1998 WNBA draft. The school's

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team was a charter member of the Division III Illini-Badger Football Conference, where it won five conference titles before dropping the sport in 1988. In 1977, a men's club

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

team was formed by students from local soccer organizations around Chicago to compete against college varsities from surrounding region. This club, guided by player/coach Frank Hermantz, won all of its games. Varsity status was not granted, however, and the team parted ways. In 2005, a group of students created a new NEIU

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

club. The Eagles were made up of 24 current students who competed against other collegiate baseball clubs in the Midwest including programs at Columbia College Chicago, Northwestern University, Roosevelt University, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The university also offers women's volleyball, women's soccer, men's soccer, aikido, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, ice hockey, and women's softball. All intramural sports clubs are created and organized by students with the support of the campus recreation department and registered through IMLeagues. NEIU offers a course called Judo and Self Defense. In 2019, the Golden Eagles Tomodachi Judo Club was formed by students and a faculty member.

Notable faculty

Gwendolyn Brooks Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks (June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000) was an American poet, author, and teacher. Her work often dealt with the personal celebrations and struggles of ordinary people in her community. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poet ...

* Sarah Hoagland * Libby Komaiko * John R. Powers *

Leo Segedin Leopold Segedin (March 22, 1927 – January 7, 2025) was an American artist and educator based in Chicago. He is best known as an urban figurative painter, who portrayed humanist scenes of life in mid-20th century Chicago.Klauba, Judith Lloyd an ...

* Conrad Worrill

Notable alumni

* Muhammed al-Ahari, Islamic essayist and scholar * Lorrainne Sade Baskerville, social worker and activist * Michael Angelo Batio,

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

* Maria Antonia Berrios, former member of the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

* Bob Biggins, former member of the

* Candy Dawson Boyd, writer and activist * Walter Burnett, Jr.,

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

Ana Castillo Ana Castillo (born June 15, 1953) is a Chicana novelist, poet, short story writer, essayist, editor, playwright, translator and independent scholar. Considered one of the leading voices in Chicana experience, Castillo is most known for her experi ...

, writer * Danny Crawford, professional basketball referee * John C. D'Amico, member of the

* Georgiann Davis, sociology professor at the University of Mexico who specialized in intersex topics and the sociology of diagnosis *

Miguel del Valle Miguel del Valle (born July 24, 1951) is an Americans, American politician who has served in various roles in municipal and state government in Chicago. He was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1987, becoming the first Hispanic member of the body, ...

, former

City Clerk and former

Illinois State Senator The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under th ...

* Don Digirolamo, Academy Award-winning re-recording mixer * Sara Feigenholtz, member of the

* Jesse Fuentes, Alderperson for Chicago City Council's 26th ward * Calvin L. Giles, former member of the

* Luis V. Gutiérrez, first Latino to be elected to

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

from the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

* Alan Hargesheimer,

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

* Robert Jordan, veteran journalist and retired news anchor for

WGN-TV WGN-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the local outlet for The CW. It is owned and operated by the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is sister station, sister to the company ...

in Chicago * Richard J. Koubek, 11th President of

Michigan Technological University Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Uppe ...

* Margaret Laurino, former

* Iris Y. Martinez,

* Tim McIlrath, singer of

Rise Against Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rise Against's mu ...

John Pankow John Pankow (born April 28, 1954) is an American actor. He began his career on-stage in New York, in numerous Off-Broadway and Broadway plays including Peter Shaffer's ''Amadeus'', John Patrick Shanley's '' Italian American Reconciliation,'' ...

, actor * Art Porter, Jr.,

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

* Delia Ramirez, member of the

US House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

for Illinois's 3rd congressional district * Warner Saunders, newscaster, WMAQ-TV in Chicago * Christopher J. Schneider, award-winning professor at Wilfrid Laurier University * Ed H. Smith, former

* Juliana Taimoorazy, Assyrian activist, founder and current president of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council * Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor,

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

professor of

African-American Studies Black studies or Africana studies (with nationally specific terms, such as African American studies and Black Canadian studies), is an interdisciplinary academic field that primarily focuses on the study of the history, culture, and politics of ...

, activist, and 2021 MacArthur "Genius Grant" recipient * Karen Yarbrough, Cook County Recorder of Deeds, former member of the

References

External links

* {{authority control State universities in Illinois Public universities and colleges in Illinois Universities and colleges in Chicago Universities and colleges established in 1949 1949 establishments in Illinois