Justin Kohmetscher/DN

Some might have compared this guy to Superman.

He fought faculty armed with only a microphone and a podium.

During the uncertain 1965-66 years of the Vietnam War, he charmed the student body to win the first all-university Association of Students of the University of Nebraska election.

If you dig through the dusty Daily Nebraskan archives, you'll see him in the headlines, threatening to win on issues or lose the ASUN charter trying.

"I was a believer - I still believe in student government," said former ASUN President Kent Neumeister, who now lives in Omaha.

"It's a very, very good thing, for the university, the students, education. So I'm not a cynic and I'm not a skeptic - I'm a believer."

The university Neumeister served, though, was a little different than today's UNL.

Back in 1965, Frank Solich was on the roster instead of running spring training. And to get an idea of what campus was like, you'd have to envision it minus a few buildings and some thousands of students.

Throw in some students who decided they all needed a voice and a hand in their education, and who had just exchanged a student council focused on activities for an all-representative student government, and you've got a setting.

Then, Neumeister entered the scene as one of a few key players.

"There were many, many fine student leaders in those days who took student government very seriously and really cared about the university," he recalled.

And he was surprised when he was chosen from among them to head this new government whose powers were still being defined.

"It was unusual that I was president of the student body," he said. "I was not involved in activities - I ran for three things in my life, and I came from (Selleck Residence Hall) as an independent, not a greek."

But those who knew him say that's just his humility speaking.

"(Neumeister) was liked and accepted by all the various facets of campus," said Terry Schaaf, who succeeded him as second ASUN president. "He wasn't a frat man, or a dorm man, or a jock - he was a regular student. No, he was better than that.

"He appealed to everyone, and it wasn't easy to become president, with all the other candidates from the frats and sororities and the independents."

Despite the hurdles he faced to win his office, perhaps one of Neumeister's greatest victories came in the spring of 1966.

UNL faced some unexpected expenditures and the administration considered raising tuition when the ASUN stepped in. They held a meeting and most of the administration, including the chancellor, came to listen to what the students had to say.

"We fought, and the university backed down," Neumeister said. "They returned to the appropriations committee at the Nebraska Legislature, and the Legislature approved more money to cover the unanticipated costs. It was remarkable in those days."

So, he and the many people involved in student government challenged even budget cuts and won. Neumeister attributes much of the cooperation between student leaders to the Honors Program.

"(The Honors Program) was very influential in a lot of peoples' lives," he said. "It was a very special education and was how a lot of student leaders met each other."

Neumeister said his stint as ASUN president also affected his views of what the university gave him.

"Student government made me very grateful for my education," he said.

He's remained involved in education, and hasn't lost contact with college students in the nearly 40 years since his ASUN rein. Neumeister has taught law at Creighton University since 1973.

"I just love teaching law, being a teacher just day in, day out," he said.

And though after graduating from UNL in 1966 he attended Harvard and lived in Boston, the Nebraska City native hasn't outgrown his roots.

"He is devoted to Nebraska and wanted to teach in his home state," fellow Professor of Law Richard Shugrue said. "He is concerned - about the future of his students, the quality of his performance in the classroom, the faculty of law, his citizenship in the state of Nebraska."

Neumeister has also remained a loyal Husker fan, Shugrue said.

"He has season tickets to football games and plods down as much as he can to what is the unifying force in the state of Nebraska. Good season or bad, Kent is there, applauding his alma mater," he said.

"He is committed to certain values like quality of education. He believes in loyalty and payback time."