I TOUCH THE FUTURE. I TEACH. Professor Gustaaf van Cramphout has crossed the final summit. The English Department's announcement notes,

There are few among us who profoundly touch the lives of all they meet. Gustaaf was such a person. By his very essence, he raised the standard by which we all hope to live; his spirit and legacy of intellectual accomplishment and compassion remain with us all.

A student columnist offers a similar tribute.

[T]he many lives he has touched - my own included - struggle through our thoughts and prayers to repay some measure of the kindness, caring and belief that he has for so long demonstrated to - and inspired in - all of us.

Case in point:

For former Star columnist Leah Kind, who received her master’s in English from NIU in 2004, Van Cromphout’s kindness sets him apart.

"I remember a girl in our program had signed up for too many classes and had to drop his after the first day," Kind said. "But for the next two years, every time he saw her in the hall, he said hello and asked her how school was going. That after one day of one class - he cared that much."

It is on behalf of the efforts of Gustaaf and others like him that these pages will continue to defend what is best about the university. No doubt some Jack Welch wannabe with a vulgar "business model" of an education product would see the "efficiencies" in replacing the tenured faculty with freeway flyers who could be had cheaply without a 36 year commitment, and why bother keeping a man who speaks ten languages and gets the fine points of Transcendentalism, involving ideas too complex to fit a Power Point slide? Would a harried freeway flyer be able to shape the progress of freshmen into seniors, or post-graduates? Clear signals, Gustaaf.