Dear Parents: Letter from the Chancellor

Dear Parents

As this issue of Postmarks reaches your home, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign we are moving into the final months of the academic year.

The focus of our current students is rapidly shifting to final projects and papers, reviewing options for summer internships or scheduling interviews with one or more of the thousands of recruiters who are visiting the campus. Whether they are finishing their first year as one of the Illinois family or nearing the end of their undergraduate experience, they are immersed in the transformational opportunities they have found in and out of our classrooms. The stories in this issue offer just a brief window into the campus that they call home – and that they are actively shaping with their own efforts and commitment.

From building a more sustainable community for generations to come to crossing the world for new educational experiences to studying in renovated classrooms that use cutting-edge technology to prepare them for the challenges of their coming careers – being an undergraduate at Illinois is all about opening up new doors to a more successful future. And as you’ll see in the story about our Lincoln Scholars program that is well on the way to raising $10 million in philanthropic support for student scholarships, this dedication to our students extends across generations and around the globe through our network of alumni and friends who continue to invest in their university.

But even as this year’s Illinois journey is building to its conclusion for our current students, many of you have daughters and sons who are right now considering whether they will join our 2015 freshman class. Our admission offers have been extended and now the power of choice is in your hands as a family.

With the spring acceptance deadline approaching, I know you will be looking carefully at all of the options your child has for his or her college career. Visit campuses. Ask questions. Read about the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Compare opportunities. Look at graduation rates. Think about class offerings, majors and the quality of future professors. Talk with alums and look where they get positions and where they go. Watch where top companies in the world come to hire. I encourage you to explore the breadth and depth of opportunities that all these great universities offer – both in and out of the classroom and for a lifetime. 

And when you have done all that – I am confident you will find that Illinois stands out as the university that offers students the best tools and knowledge and skills to choose their own paths to become leaders in their communities, in their states, their nation and their world.

Sincerely,

Phyllis M. Wise
Chancellor