"Forward, Forever, Forward"-- NIU and the Aftermath of the February Killings

About two weeks ago, my wife and I went back to Dekalb for the graduation of a friend and got there early looking for items about the Valentine's Day killings.

We went to Village Commons Bookstore and found they were giving away posters with the Huskie logo and the words from the school fight song, "Forward, Together, Forward." We were told a local civic organization had made them available to anyone who wanted them. We asked about magnetic ribbons for the cars and pins, but they said they could not sell them, only the University Bookstore at the center.

When we visited Dekalb, five days after the shootings, we encountered a VERY irate woman managing the University Bookstore who was incensed that, while she was closed along with the university, VCB remained open and was getting items in. (Actually VCB was making their own ribbons.) Evidently, she got her wish.

So, we went to the University Bookstore and were able to buy NIU ribbon pins, but all the magnetic ones were sold out. Someone had come in earlier and bought every last one they had, but they were on order.

A few days after the event, my wife Liz had designed a logo for the event that she was going to have Zazzle print, but, right before she placed the order, she was told that it was under copyright to the university so she couldn't print them.


WHAT THEY SHOULD DO

I would like to see the artifacts collected put on both a rotating and a permanent display at a museum in Cole Hall since they are not going to tear it down. Cole Hall was where the shootings took place.