Picnic Party!

Yesterday was one of my favorite events of the new academic year – the Annual UIS Chancellor's Welcome Picnic! Granted the weather was a little on the hot side; but most important it was an opportunity for me to offer a warm welcome to hundreds of new and returning students, faculty and staff. I so enjoyed talking with members of our academic community, checking in with new students to see how things were going, and enjoying some great food – especially the cookies. My thanks to all the food service staff who created a wonderful meal, to all the staff and volunteers who served the food, to the facilities folks who handled setting the scene for such a huge crowd, to student Jaime Cruz for serving as DJ again (and playing a Willie Nelson classic just for me), and to the hundreds of students, faculty and staff who attended the event. As you can see from the photo – we all had a very, very good time. Should do this every Tuesday? Hmmmmmm...