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Comparable Schools'
Facilities Grades:
Quick StatsPopular Places to Chill
- Holmes Student Center
- Recreation Center
Student Centers
- Holmes Student Center (HSC)
Libraries
- Founders Memorial Library
- Various departmental libraries
Athletic Centers
- Anderson Hall Pool
- Chick Evans Field House
- Convocation Center
- Gable Hall Pool
- Recreation Center
College Prowler Take
As NIU has started to creep its way into the national spotlight due to athletic and academic successes, University officials have been stepping up efforts to beautify campus—and it has paid off big-time. One can question the necessity of buildings like the Convocation Center or Barsema Hall but can’t possibly quibble over how beautiful and advanced they are. Still, the main draw for students is the Recreation Center, which has a wide variety of equipment and tons of courts for all sorts of sports. Because of this, it is often very crowded. Thankfully, the Chick Evans Field House serves as an alternate workout site. Founders Memorial Library sees just as much student use as the Recreation Center, and for good reason—its staff is friendly, and its resources are seemingly unending. The Holmes Student Center is also a good place to chill between classes.
Some of the dorms really need a total face lift, however, especially Grant Hall, which is as ugly and ancient as buildings on campus get. The janitorial staff can only cover so much ground, leaving some bathrooms in awful shape if you hit them at the wrong time. Also, lawns don’t stay green for long on campus, as students have a propensity to march right through them and eventually turn them into dirt patches. Cigarette butts have the uncanny ability to be on every bench and in front of every building on campus in massive quantities, too. Students Speak Out
Love your school more than free food? Hate your school more than term papers?
Somewhere in between? Show the world what YOU think of YOUR school:
Anonymous says:  |
The bathrooms are hit or miss...
The bathrooms are hit or miss here. I usually don’t use them in the classroom buildings unless extremely necessary or if I’m in Barsema Hall. The rec center can get overcrowded during the hours of 5 to 8 (especially for ellipticals, treadmills, bikes, and such), but those are easily combated by going to the Chick Evans Field House, which is a virtual ghost town. The student center, while a bit tricky to navigate at times, is nice. I enjoy the Huskies Den, specifically because of the quality pool tables. On Mondays, they have Dollar Days, meaning that half-hours of pool and games of bowling are $1. Sweet deal. |
Anonymous says: |
I think most of the facilities on...
I think most of the facilities on campus are well-maintained. If there is ever an issue, it is dealt with in a timely fashion. There are few areas that are really beautiful, such as the West Lagoon and the area near Altgeld Hall and McMurray. Some other areas look a bit more run down, such as the areas between DuSable and Gable halls. |
Anonymous says: |
The student center is a pretty...
The student center is a pretty convenient place to go for a meal, although I never really made it a habit of going there. The bathrooms are probably the worst part of the school’s facilities. Places like Reavis had terrible and dingy bathrooms with horrible smells, and if you live in the dorms, expect to see a lot of bodily waste in places it was never meant to be. |
Anonymous says: |
There are some new buildings on...
There are some new buildings on campus that are really quite beautiful and ridiculously well-maintained. Altgeld Hall, Barsema Hall and the Convocation Center actually make me feel proud to go to Northern. Now if some of the dorms and classrooms would catch up, everything would be perfect. |
Anonymous says: |
I would say all the facilities are...
I would say all the facilities are very nice. The rec center is great and offers so many different classes and activities. The convo center is amazing. The look of the campus is pretty good. Sometimes there is trash lying around, though. |
FactsWhat To Do on Campus
In between classes, you can head to the Recreation Center, grab a bite to eat at the student center, lounge on the grass of the Martin Luther King Commons, or find a computer lab to screw around on the Internet.
Favorite Things To Do
The recreation center sees the most traffic of any facility on campus by far, especially early in both semesters. The elliptical machines and basketball courts are particularly popular. If you are not athletically inclined, bowling and billiards are fun and dirt-cheap late night alternatives. Culturally, the Jack Olsen Memorial Gallery showcases the finest artwork produced by NIU students during the day and three theatres in the Stevens building are kept busy several nights a semester with dance and theatre productions. The Convocation Center, a 35 million-dollar plus venture, has drawn the likes of Dave Chappelle, Big & Rich, Nelly, and Dick Cheney to campus.
Movie Theater on Campus
- Northern Illinois University
Coffeehouse on Campus
- Coffee Corner in the Holmes Student Center
- Three Sons Café in Barsema Hall
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