As to NIU not wanting to make a statement, perhaps they are too busy figuring out how to pay another $195,000 to fix a problem with the baseball artificial turf project.

From the Nov. 10 Board of Trustees meeting ...

"... recently identified unforeseen site conditions with the baseball field is causing project estimated costs to exceed the authorized amount by $195K. The unforeseen issue was created by the inability to locate the field’s subsurface drainage system which was presumed to exist based on available drawings. As a result, a new drainage system is required to be installed to support the artificial turf field."

They had contingency funds for "unforseen" problems, but used that up because "Unfortunately, a scope change for improved ADA accessibility near the bleachers, which also necessitated installation of a new backstop system, was considered important enhancements for the baseball field and a calculated risk was made to use the available contingency for this purpose before the unforeseen drainage condition was realized."

BTW, supposedly, a "newly-updated and enhanced field watering system" was included in 1993-94 stadium improvements (from official website facilities report).

I said this once before a long time ago: These people could not lead a one-cow cattle drive across a one-way bridge without creating a traffic jam.