On September 11, 1899, 146 women and 27 men arrived for the first day of classes at Northern Illinois State Normal School.
From its very beginnings, the school that would become NIU met students wherever they were in terms of their academic preparation: Among that first class were students enrolled in one-, two-, three- and four-year programs, depending on their educational backgrounds, which ranged from some college to no high school experience. All candidates for admission had to present “a certificate of good moral character, signed by some well-known person.” They came from 34 Illinois counties, and nearly a quarter of them were from DeKalb County.
NISNS’s first students paid no tuition, as long as they were willing to teach for a period of time in Illinois schools. They paid an incidental instruction fee of $6 per year, as well as $10 for books and supplies. Room and board in what were called “boarding clubs” in the nearby Ellwood neighborhood ran about $124 per year.
President Cook’s advertisements for the new school had shown a stately building surrounded by a green lawn and large trees, but the reality that greeted the first students was less pleasant: A plank walkway stretched from the bridge to the building, and mud was the predominant ground covering. Furthermore, the building was not completed, and students had to step over tools and bags of cement in the hallways during their first few weeks.
On the first day of classes, as would be his routine for many years to come, President Cook assembled all students and faculty in the auditorium for the day’s opening exercises. Those included the singing of patriotic songs, reading of scripture, and a closing with the Lord’s Prayer. Sometimes Cook would play the piano and sing popular songs for the students as well. And when classes commenced at 9:00, Cook himself taught during the first two periods alongside his fifteen faculty.
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