President's Perspective

For many of us who have been educators for the entirety of our professional lives, our internal calendars have different annotations. Typical holidays generally come at the close of one academic session or at the beginning of the next, and New Year’s Eve is always on a Sunday night in August. Each fall, we welcome back our returning students along with a new group of students, our next academic generation, with their hopes and dreams for a better life because of what we do here.

I’m incredibly proud of the work that our staff and faculty continue to accomplish to help our students to make the best of a much different experience than they might have expected. Our response to the continued surge of the pandemic has been successful and we have few cases of the virus reported on campus. Our testing program with the University of Illinois continues to be a vital part of our ability to keep our classes in person and to have a more normal slate of events and performances on campus. Every day, it’s inspiring to me to watch as our students adhere to our public health guidelines while still creating their best lives on campus. Despite the setback with the Delta variant during the summer months, our campus is alive with high quality activities and experiences, including a full schedule of athletic and performing arts events.

Because of our experience with the pandemic and understanding the relative risks, Sue and I have been able to begin our “Welcome Tour” visiting alumni across the country, albeit 16 months delayed. This fall, we were part of several events in Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Nashville where we had terrific conversations with alumni and Millikin friends. Our plan for the spring includes trips to Texas (week of January 17), Florida (week of February 7), California (week of March 21) and Arizona (week of April 18) among others. I hope that if you're from one of these areas, you will find time in your busy schedules to come out to one of our events and spend time with Sue and me.

As alumni and friends of Millikin, your support and your contributions of your time, talents and treasures make all of this possible for our students and I want you to know how grateful we are to be able to provide a campus environment that is still the same today as when you were members of our community. Let me close by asking for your continued support of our mission and purpose. Just like many small colleges and universities across the country, we are facing some significant challenges. We need the generosity of all of our alumni and friends to weather the storm that is changing the landscape of American higher education. We could use your help to continue to provide each of our students the opportunity to be part of our beloved community.

With great respect for you all,