This news item is about: Tradition and a forward-looking enthusiasm intertwined Friday as a community of proud Huskies celebrated the investiture of NIU President Lisa Freeman. Hundreds of students, faculty, staff, alumni and Huskies in spirit, including many of Dr. Freeman's family, friends, mentors and colleagues, gathered for an afternoon of grandeur at Boutell Memorial Concert Hall to honor NIU's 13th president – the first female president in the university's nearly 125-year history.