A ‘Quinn-tessential’ Experience

If James and Mary Quinn had been coaches at NIU, their winning percentage would have eclipsed legendary, longtime Huskie coaches George Evans and Howard Fletcher.

Instead, the Quinns coached in that all-encompassing, 24/7 job known as parenting.

In that world, their winning percentage was 1.000, and at NIU it was .667. That’s because all nine of their children graduated from college, and six of them were Huskies.

Spanning parts of four decades, the Quinns’ relationship with NIU produced one journalist, two special education teachers, two executives in the tech industry, and one internationally recognized aviation attorney. Each of them was active in campus life while at NIU, and most of them are still involved with the University in some capacity. All of them look back fondly on their time in DeKalb.

Here are their stories…

Maureen Quinn ’68

Basic courtesy brought Maureen Quinn to NIU’s campus in 1964. During a college visit to another midwestern university, the Quinns drove more than five hours only to find that no one was available to take them on the campus tour or inquiry session they had scheduled in advance.

“My dad nixed that university immediately,” Maureen recalled with a laugh, “and we stopped at NIU on our way home.” That was the beginning of the Quinns’ lives as Huskies.

College visits were a common event in the Quinn household. Each of the nine Quinn children was expected to go to college.

“I always wanted a big campus with diversity of people and ideas,” Maureen said.  “And while NIU was not a large campus, breaking out of the high school mold and trying something new appealed to me.”

Maureen, a member of her high school’s pompom team, saw her newly chosen journalism major as the ticket to adventure in far-off lands, perhaps even in Vietnam as a war correspondent. Just as she was breaking out of her mold into this new, adventurous identity, members of Kappa Delta began recruiting her to join the sorority and try out for the University pompom Squad. Familiarity won her over–at least for the moment.

“I joined the sorority and pompom squad,” Maureen stated. “Two of my sisters would later join the same sorority. These college friends remain, and we gather together all these years later.”

Outside this idyllic student life, political tension was brewing, and her age group was at the heart of the turmoil. Many students spent time at the Holmes Student Center (HSC) socializing and pouring over news reports on the Vietnam War, searching the lists of wounded and dead to see who they might know. That experience helped Maureen realize she had romanticized the adventure of covering the war without recognizing the reality of combat.

Maureen credits NIU for launching her into a long communications career in newspapers, television, government affairs, and media relations in Illinois and Wisconsin. She noted the strong influence of journalism professor Hallie Hamilton and art photography professor Doug Stewart, who — according to Quinn — were “influential in my growth, as I became a photojournalist after college.”

“At NIU,” she continued, “I learned to seize the day, to open my eyes and mind, to learn and become a critical thinker, and to use my unique gifts to help create a better world and to make a difference.”

Upon graduation, Maureen was thrown directly into the heart of the nation’s upheaval, becoming a summer intern with the Associated Press to work the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. For her, being on the floor of the convention was an education in politics and free speech.

“As a budding journalist, it was baptism by fire,” she said. “But my experiences at NIU—both in the classroom and in the protests around campus—prepared me for it.”

The social upheaval that defined Maureen’s time at NIU would also impact her younger sister Diana, but in a different way.

Diana Quinn ’72

It was 1972, and everyone living on the twelfth floor of Grant North, including Diana Quinn, had agreed to have “mixed” roommates. At that time, it meant black and white students would room together, which wasn’t common on campus before that. Diana lived with Alvida Prescott, sharing friends and marching in campus protests together.

“I learned so much from her,” Diana said, “including why people like Jesse Jackson and movements like Black Power were so important.”

Diana’s growing appreciation for diversity and social consciousness ignited when black students took over the entire Grant North building in protest. Coming home late that night, Diana was warned by friends about the takeover and informed her that she might want to sleep elsewhere that night, but she went upstairs to bed without a second thought.

“When I woke in the morning,” she said, “it was a black Grant North and white Diana, and we all had a good laugh about it. It never occurred to me to worry about the takeover, because these were my friends.”

Diana balanced the restlessness on campus with the stability of life in the same Kappa Delta sorority Maureen had joined. She remains friends with her pledge class and gets together with them regularly.

Her wanderlust never disappeared though. Soon after she completed a degree in special education, Diana headed to Europe with a friend for a three-month hitchhiking trip, which opened her eyes to the larger world beyond campus. She spent several years teaching at an alternative school in California, which catered to the children of movie stars, writers, and producers. This experience exposed Diana to a wide variety of things she had never experienced, like fencing, costume design, and kite-making.

Then she found herself in a relationship that brought her to Belgium. There, she spent a year teaching English to Belgians and running an English school in Liege. After that, Diana was hired to teach special education for K-12 students at the Brussels American School where she finished her career.

“NIU expanded my sense of what was possible,” Diana concluded, “and my experiences there prepared me for the life full of adventures I’ve had since finishing college.”

While Diana parlayed her special education degree into a life overseas, her younger sister followed the same career path to a rich and fulfilling life closer to home.

Honora Quinn ’75

Honora Quinn, too, recalled her parents’ emphasis on education, but she was also strongly influenced by her father’s advice to stand up and be counted. “Don’t be the student who sits in back,” he would tell her. “Be the one who gives your all, all the time.” That advice shaped Honora’s choices throughout life, including her long-time involvement with the NIU community.

“We were all familiar with NIU, because of the older siblings,” Honora recounted. “My parents would go to one child’s game, then come to visit us at NIU and then drive back for someone else’s game.”

She calls NIU “a good fit for us,” because her parents were close by but far enough away to allow for independence.

“We were happy there,” she said smiling. “All of us were quite involved in high school, and that carried over into college, which helped a lot.”

Like her sisters, Honora joined NIU’s pompom squad, so she had a built-in set of friends. She also fondly recalls her Greek experience and the special education department where she earned her degree.

After graduation, Honora spent 35 years in the Schaumburg, Illinois, school district, retiring in 2011. Because of her work with children through the College of Education at NIU, Honora was able to be involved in the opening of a children’s museum called The Children’s Museum and Imaginasium. She served as exhibit director, marketing director, and executive director before becoming president of the Board of Directors.

In her view, her current NIU-related activities are “a great way to teach others about the University.”

“I have warm feelings toward NIU,” Honora concluded. “And all my friends from NIU feel good about their experiences there. The classes were small enough to succeed in, but the school was big enough to be able to do a lot there.”

Honora’s younger brother Terry went into business, not education, but his experiences at NIU mirrored his siblings’.

Terry Quinn ’80

When Terry Quinn transferred into NIU’s business school from the University of Illinois, it was a homecoming of sorts for him.

“I knew the campus and history well,” Terry said. “I had traveled to NIU for almost 10 years prior, visiting my siblings for parents’ weekends, events, holiday pickups, and graduations.”

The business school’s strong reputation, which he had heard about from several of his older sisters’ friends, also attracted him. Terry viewed NIU as an affordable place that offered a first-class education—something that appealed to a person who was self-funding his education.

Terry transferred to NIU and became a finance major. Since that major cut across multiple business disciplines— with banking, real estate, accounting, and investments among them—it helped Terry prepare for his career in IT sales.

“I have used finance throughout my career to prepare for customer meetings and understand their business operations,” Terry noted. “And the cross-sectional business knowledge I gained at NIU gave me a great foundation to be successful in sales.”

Terry had watched the late 1960s and early ’70s unfold politically and socially through his sisters’ NIU experiences. The Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement entered the family home because of his sisters.

Little did he know that he’d soon have his own view into history.

In the spring of 1979, Terry attended the University of Copenhagen Business School, which opened his eyes to the larger world and defined his life. It helped him develop confidence and leadership because he wanted to step forward and engage fully in the program. And he was able to travel extensively through Europe, primarily via trains or hitchhiking.

“I was learning East-West business relationships during the Cold War from a front-row seat,” Terry stated. “Part of that included traveling into the Eastern Bloc, where the differences between communist and democratic rule were obvious.”

Perhaps the most profound thing that happened to Terry during his time in Copenhagen was meeting fellow NIU student Debi Hollenbeck, who eventually became Debi Quinn, ’80, when the two were married. Even though the two grew up just five miles apart, they did not know each other until they traveled 5,000 miles to Copenhagen.

Terry and Debi are becoming more involved with NIU alumni gatherings, reflecting the value they both place on the University and the education they received there.

“We had the dreams,” Terry said, “and NIU enabled us to achieve them.”

In the case of Kevin Quinn, Terry’s younger brother, the path to achieving the dream of a college degree took an unusual turn.

Kevin Quinn ’17

Kevin Quinn calls his path through NIU “the 40-year plan.” He was close to completing his degree in 1981, and then his father passed away. Kevin started working and didn’t complete his degree at the time. In 2017, he returned to NIU, completing several online courses to earn his degree in industry and technology.

“When I started at NIU,” Kevin recalled with a smile, “we had just broken Northwestern’s record for the most consecutive losses in football. By the time I graduated, we were competing for the conference championship.”

His fondest memories include his experiences as a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity, doing computer programming on punch cards, concerts at the Newman Catholic Student Center and local hangouts, The Red Lion and Shamrock Inn.

He also mentioned having an 8 a.m. accounting class with his younger brother Ken. They’d usually run into each other at about 8:05 outside the classroom door, coffees in hand. Because of that, they usually ended up sitting in the front row of the class, in the only seats still available.

The lessons Kevin learned at NIU—how to study, work with groups, and meet deadlines—served him well in his 25-year career in sales management at Intel. He notes the importance of the access to arts and culture, amazing faculty members, campus events and the array of resources that university life brings.

Kevin found those resources and faculty members particularly helpful when he decided to return to NIU in 2017.

“Stacey Deegan in admissions took an interest in my goals and went above and beyond to ensure that I could achieve my goal of graduation,” he said.  “And I found the instruction and interaction I had with professors Michael Cermack and Greg Justice to be insightful, accessible, interesting, and effective.”

His “40-year plan” complete, Kevin lives in the Pacific Northwest today, so he doesn’t get back to DeKalb very often. However, he still keeps in touch with his DU fraternity brothers regularly. And he still speaks about NIU and his time there with great affection.

Like Kevin, youngest brother Ken relishes his time at NIU and recalls it with fondness.

Ken Quinn ’82

Ken Quinn was the last of his siblings to enter NIU, but he carried on the family tradition of extensive involvement in campus life. The finance major speaks with pride of his time in NIU’s business school and credits his parents for his success there—and beyond.

“My parents were hugely influential,” Ken said. “They emphasized education, and they had very high expectations for all nine of us. They also kept us focused on faith, family, and friends, and I still hold those ideas as central parts of my life.”

Ken’s faith remains important to him today, and at NIU he taught ministry classes at the Newman Center to help others in their faith journey. He served his fellow students in other ways, too—serving as a senator and then treasurer in the Student Association, helping found the Student Committee on Financial Aid, and serving on the Athletics Board and the Judicial Board.

“I enjoyed being active in student governance,” Ken stated, “because I have always believed in the importance of public service.”

Ken spent time in Washington, D.C., while he was a student, testifying before Congress on behalf of the U.S. Student Association to advocate for improving the student aid system.

Ken worked for congressional and presidential campaigns during his time in college, and his interest in the political system took him back to Washington, D.C., after he graduated from DePaul University’s law school in 1985. There, he joined the first Bush Administration, first as senior advisor to the president-elect, then as counsel to the secretary of transportation, and finally as chief counsel of the Federal Aviation Administration. He was most recently the global chair of the aviation practice and co-chair of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems multidisciplinary team at the law firm Baker McKenzie.

“I used the business and finance principles I learned at NIU nearly every day,” Ken said. “My work involved antitrust law, economics and how businesses finance themselves. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the great education I received at NIU.”

Over four different decades, the Quinn siblings left their mark on NIU, and NIU certainly left its mark on them. Each of them remains grateful to NIU for the opportunities and education the University provided, and all of them remain grateful to Jim and Mary Quinn, who coached and cheered them along the way.