Thursday, May 15, 2014

A little late night food and fun

I have always enjoyed the UIS tradition - “Finals Week Late Night Breakfast." Last year I did a blog post about whether French Toast is really French. Last night's Late Night Breakfast was another great night. Unlike past years, I didn’t help serve the food; instead I just wanted to mingle and have some conversations with students – especially those who are graduating. 

The topic of the evening seemed to be - "real" bacon vs. turkey bacon! I'm a real bacon fan myself; so it would take a lot to convince me that turkey bacon is better!! I think everyone agreed that it was all good … and that it was nice to have a little late night feast as the semester comes to an end. I'm going to miss those  seniors; but it was also nice to talk with a lot of freshmen who've had a great year and are looking forward to coming back next year. Happy summer, everyone!

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

A great evening and a great honor

This past weekend, I had the privilege of participating in the Order of Lincoln awards ceremony in Chicago. I am an Academic Trustee of the Lincoln Academy and each year the Academy selects a few Illinoisans who have achieved greatness in one of several areas of achievement. Among the awardees this year was former First Lady of the United States, Secretary of State and U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. 

It was a pleasure to talk with her before the ceremony and share memories of participating in the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women back on 1995. Secretary Clinton remarked during the ceremony that Illinoisans and Americans need to support the next generation in honor of Abraham Lincoln and continue to do all that needs to be done to unify this exceptional country on behalf of the values that he gave his life for. I second that. 

(For more information about the 2014 Lincoln Laureates, see the article from the Chicago Tribune.)