Northwestern celebrates 22 years as a top Fulbright producer
February 4, 2026
It was 1968 when, for the first time, Vince McCoy emerged from Chicago’s Red Line tunnel to discover with great astonishment that the “L” train emerged and traveled above ground on tracks in narrow alleys on the North Side.
“I had never been north of downtown,” said McCoy, recounting his first of many visits to Northwestern’s Evanston campus as a budding musician to attend a performance of the University Band.
The 16-year-old South Sider could not have known he was coming home. But now, after more than five decades of service to Northwestern Libraries, where he started working as an undergraduate, McCoy’s personal history and that of the institution are deeply intertwined.
“As a student and later as a member of the staff, I was not thinking about the fact that history is made by ordinary people just living their lives. But after hearing this from many people over the years, I finally started to own it,” said McCoy, who retired in December. “My life and the life of the University are connected.”
What made me stay at Northwestern for so long? ...it was for the love of my university.”
McCoy first came to Northwestern as a music cherub during high school to study trombone. After graduating from high school, he enrolled as a music education major in the Bienen School of Music and worked at the Music Library; he played trombone in the Wildcat Marching Band; and he joined the Northwestern chapter of the Gay Liberation Front, becoming that organization’s first Black president in 1972. He met his husband of 50 years, Wayne MacPherson, at the first meeting of the Gay Liberation Front that was held in then new Norris University Center.
“By the time I came to Northwestern, I had missed the Black Student Takeover of the Bursars Office, and the antiwar protests — when NU students shutdown Sheridan Road. I thought to myself, ‘Ok, we have plenty of people to do that work, but we don’t have as many willing to be out and gay,’” McCoy said. “I never felt unsafe about coming out on campus. It was the seventies. It was a time of great tolerance on campus; everybody had a cause. This was my cause.”
When McCoy graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music education in 1975, he was already working full-time at the Music Library. He remained there for about 10 years, learning the core business of libraries, characterized by dot matrix printers, card catalogs and The Reader’s Guide to Periodic Literature.
A massive shift was beginning when McCoy applied for a new job as Data Center supervisor in 1983. The new University Library opened in 1970. Library Automation was brand new, and the University Library became an early leader in the field.
“In Library IT, I saw the start of automation, from mainframes that filled the whole room to personal computers and finally laptops. There was no internet, and no one knew how to use email,” McCoy said. Through it all, McCoy was an IT beacon of access and empathy to all the library staff.
“I knew everyone’s name because I created all of their computer accounts,” said McCoy, who managed the IT Help Desk and a small army of Northwestern undergraduates who have staffed it over the years.
“Supervising Northwestern students has been one of my joys working at the library,” he said, estimating he worked with 200 students. “I was always guided by how my mentors treated me when I was a student working at the library.”
McCoy’s impact extended well beyond the library. A longtime advocate for diversity and inclusion, he was a member of Northwestern’s Black Professionals Network, served on the Gender-Queer, Non-Binary Task Force, and participated in an intensive social justice training program called Change Makers.
Vince McCoy’s impact on the library and University has been profound,” said Bob Trautvetter, director of IT at the Libraries. “He leaves a legacy of great love and commitment to Northwestern University and to the Libraries that is equal to none.”
Coworkers organized a celebration for McCoy in Deering Library’s newly renovated Devereau room in January, featuring tributes from students, long-time colleagues and friends, and two University Libraries deans, Dean Xuemao Wang, and Sarah Pritchard, emeritus dean.
“What made me stay at Northwestern for so long? Without hesitation, it was for the love of my university, McCoy said. “The people of Northwestern are the lifeblood of the University. We are Northwestern.”
