The City of Big Shoulders

I'm in Chicago this week participating in the University of Illinois Foundation Board of Directors meetings. Poet Carl Sandburg called Chicago "The City of Big Shoulders" in his poem Chicago and I love that name. All Great Lakes cities are very special, with their dramatic shorelines and lake-effect weather, but there is something uniquely burly and strong about this city. One of the things I like best about the UIS student body is that so many  of our students come from Chicago. It's an adventure for these urbanites to go "downstate" to school and most tell me that, though they enjoy the slower pace of Springfield for a while, they plan to pursue their careers back home in the Windy City – another great nickname for their hometown. We have several thousand UIS alums living in Chicago already and I know there will be many more given the many opportunities here. I can see I'll be spending more time with all those Chicago alums in the future!!