NIU College of Education students, faculty and staff in the have a new space available for multiple purposes, thanks to the Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations.
Graham Hall 227 – the Educational Leadership Conference Room – is now renovated and available to reserve for seminars, faculty meetings, small group gatherings, breakout sessions and more.
Money for the overhaul and new furnishings came from Marguerite F. Key, who graduated from Northern Illinois State Teachers College in 1944 with a major in biology and a minor in music.
In addition to a variety of tables and possible configurations, the room also provides a large-screen TV, a whiteboard and other technology. It features brightly painted walls with NIU College of Education branding as well as windows overlooking west campus.
“We wanted to be able to spend the money donated by Marguerite in a responsible way that fit the vision of the Keys,” says Carolyn Pluim, chair of the Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations. “It’s not just for our department but as the college needs it. We want this to be highly used. It’s a beautiful space.”
Key’s generosity also has funded the NIU Marguerite F. Key Fellows Program, which has gathered and intellectually challenged K-12 principals from the region who have worked to enrich the promising lives of college-aspiring students and their families.
Although Key spent her early career working for the Illinois Department of Public Health in Springfield as a health educator, she later logged 40 years in the Arlington County Schools near Washington, D.C., as director of guidance in a middle school.
She died Dec. 21, 2023, at the Oak Crest DeKalb Area Retirement Center. She was 102.
For more information, or to reserve the room, contact lepf@niu.edu.
