The Leslie Holmes Student Center, under the Division of Finance and Facilities, is an integral part of the education program of the university complementing the classroom experience with out-of-classroom learning opportunities.  It is a setting in which students can develop leadership skills and experience personal fulfillment.  The Center offers cultural, social, and recreation activities that make study and leisure cooperation factors in higher education.  The Holmes Student Center provides a variety of facilities and services for the daily use and convenience of the members of the university community, students, faculty, staff, alumni, guests, and visitors.

Food Service operations include: The Blackhawk Food Court featuring a salad bar, a deli bar, full course meals, and a wide variety of salads and desserts.  The Center Café, a favorite with the students, features a McDonald’s operation, a Papa John’s Pizza and convenient store area, and the Starbucks Coffee Corner with muffins and sweet rolls.  The Pheasant Room features an extensive buffet of soups and salads, hot entrées, vegetables, and delicious desserts. The Catering and Banquet department provides for coffee hours, receptions, and banquets serving from 18 to 2000 people.

The Center features eighty hotel guest rooms in the tower section.  The rooms include twin and queen bed accommodations, TV, air conditioning, and computer hook-ups in every room.  Four of the rooms are equipped to accommodate the needs of a physically handicapped person.  Located in the very center of campus, the guest rooms offer all the amenities and services appropriate to a full-service hotel.

Meeting space ranges from the large multi-purpose Duke Ellington Ballroom with a seating capacity of 2000 to medium and small conference facilities seating from 10 to 1000.  Twenty-three major meeting rooms provide the Center with the ability to serve any size group with the appropriate size facility. Lectures, debates, as well as major performances from big bands to rock concerts are scheduled in the Center for the enjoyment and pleasure of the university community.  Art displays in the Gallery Lounge complement the educational atmosphere of the Center by featuring works by guest artists from around the country as well as by student artists from the university’s renowned art department.

The Huskie Den is the Holmes Student Center’s recreation area and features videos, TV, billiard tables, and bowling lanes.  A favorite with the students of NIU, the Den conducts tournaments, special theme night events, and glo-bowling.  The Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education holds bowling classes in the Den during the academic year.

The Holmes Student Center Bookstore maintains 30,000 square feet dedicated to textbooks, general and trade books, art and school supplies, NIU-imprinted clothing, gifts, and greeting cards for all occasions. The Center provides copy machines, ATM's, and a full service bank for fast and convenient check cashing and banking services.

Students, faculty, staff and guests can study, socialize, watch TV, and relax in the large, comfortable lounges on the main floor of the Center. The Campus Assistance Information Desk on the main floor assists with information and answers questions about the Center and the university. The Center provides office space for Student Legal Assistance, Ombudsman, International Faculty and Students, Orientation, University Conferences and Institutes, Employee Wellness Office, OneCard ID Services, and the SWAN Cummuter Student Office.

Open early morning and late night seven days a week, the Holmes Student Center is the “Living Room and Front Door” for the Northern Illinois University campus.