Rachelle Novak

Off the Court

Northern Illinois alumni, as Rachelle Novak tells it on the shows. Each story was checked against its source.

• Robin KellyIllinois congresswoman

  Robin Kelly earned her doctorate in DeKalb and now represents the Illinois second district in Congress. So when she says do your homework, she's got the paperwork to back it up.

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• Tammy DuckworthU.S. senator from Illinois

  Tammy Duckworth was working on a doctorate at NIU when her war service interrupted it. She went on to Congress in 2013 and then the United States Senate. As reasons for a late dissertation go, that one holds up.

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• Dan Castellanetavoice of Homer Simpson

  Dan Castellaneta, class of 1979, is the Emmy-winning voice of Homer Simpson. So the most famous dad on television learned to talk in DeKalb. Explains a lot, actually.

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• Robert Zemeckisdirector of Back to the Future

  Robert Zemeckis attended NIU, then left for film school in California and directed Back to the Future and Forrest Gump. He got out of DeKalb and made a movie about going back. Sure.

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• Dennis HastertHouse Speaker, lobbyist, federal felon

  Dennis Hastert, master's degree, 1967. Longest-serving Republican Speaker of the House, then a lobbyist, then a guilty plea to a felony and fifteen months in prison. He is not on the brochure.

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