Fall 2000 - NIU College of Business - Northern Illinois University

Barsema Hall:A dream come trueIn one balcony of the Wirtz Hall courtyard a band belted outthe Huskie Fight Song, while on the other cheerleadersdanced. The air in between was filled with confetti and thecheers of hundreds of faculty, staff, and students.Not your average afternoon in the College of Business, butthen it’s not every dayan alumnus presents$20 million andpledges to provide aworld-class teachingfacility, which is whathappened Monday,September 18, whenDennis Barsemareturned to Wirtz Hall.“This is a dream cometrue for me and myfamily,” an emotionalBarsema told thecrowd that hadassembled for thegrand finale of a daythat was a whirlwind ofpress conferences andVIP meetings.Even when he was astudent, said Barsema,who graduated in 1977with a degree inmanagement, he hadhoped someday to dosomething big for his alma mater. Still, he told studentsgathered for the announcement, he never really expected tobe standing in Wirtz Hall making an announcement such asthis. However, when his career led him to the top of thecorporate world in Silicon Valley, as CEO of RedbackNetworks, he began looking forways to share his success, andNorthern was near the top of hislist of those he wanted to help.It only took one trip back tocampus to convince him that hisheart was in the right place.“When you meet folks like (Professor)Jack Marchewka, (Dean)David Graf, and (President) JohnPeters, you see how they pour their hearts out—and in a lotof cases pour their own money out of their pockets—toprovide students with a great education. When you seepeople like that, people who have a passion for training thenext leaders of our world…well, if you can’t get behindthem, I don’t know who you can get behind,” Barsema said.2“When I first came to NIU severaleralmonths ago, I said that it was my goal tomake it the best regional university inthe country,” NIU President John Peterssaid. “With this gift we eare e on our way.”He told the crowd how his trip back to Northern had begunwith a letter from a satisfied Redback stockholder, PamFarris, who also happened to be an NIU professor. And hetold how upon his return he was shocked to see the Collegeof Business still housed in the same buildings as when hehad graduated. “They were terrible then, and they hadn’tgotten any better over the last23 years,” he said, drawinglaughs and cheers.Even though no one at NIUhad asked him to considerfunding a building, the needwas evident. Still, he said,that was hardly enoughreason to make such asizeable gift. What convincedhim to take such an extraordinarystep, he said, was thequality of the programs hefound being taught in thosebuildings.“I told Dean Graf, ‘You haveeverything you need from aprogram standpoint. You areabsolutely set up to build thenext leaders for tomorrow’sbusiness world. All you aremissing is the building,’”Barsema said.After consulting with his wife,Stacey, who leads the familyfoundation, the decision was made to provide a building. Ashe announced his decision to members of the NIU community,Barsema was certain he had made the right choice inthrowing his support behind his alma mater.“We are confident that it will bea place where tomorrow’sleaders and tomorrow’s ideasare born,” Barsema said. “Wewant to give you an absoluteworld-class facility. In fact, weplan for it to be the best in theworld, so that your teachershave the best tools available togive you the best education youcan possibly get.”The campus community greeted the news with delight.“When I first came to NIU several months ago, I said that itwas my goal to make it the best regional university in thecountry,” NIU President John Peters said. “With this gift weare on our way. We are poised to have the best college ofbusiness facility, and hopefully programs, anywhere.”