At Evening with Legacies and Leaders, UIC students and faculty showed how their talents, ideas and drive to serve are amplified by a community invested in their success.
Jaqueza Thomas came to UIC with a drive to serve the city that raised him. At Evening with Legacies and Leaders, the UIC senior studying political science and public policy invited the donors present to imagine where that drive could lead. “When you invest in a UIC student, you may also be investing in an entire community,” he said.
For Thomas, need-based financial support created room to focus on his education while building Chicago Emerging Stars, a nonprofit serving young people on Chicago’s South and West Sides. “UIC didn't just give me a campus,” Thomas said. “It gave me a community.”
His was one of many stories shared Oct. 23, at Harold Washington Library, where about 300 donors, friends, faculty, staff, community members and university leaders gathered for UIC’s signature donor-recognition event.
“The Lucy Sprague Professorship demonstrates to the university, and to the law school community, that public interest is not just service. It’s also scholarship. And that impact and that distinction matters.”
Kim D. Ricardo
Lucy Sprague Professor in Public Interest, UIC Law
Together, their stories illustrated an idea Chancellor Marie Lynn Miranda returned to throughout the evening: At UIC, access and excellence strengthen one another. More than 37,000 students enrolled at UIC this fall, setting another university record. Through UIC Aspire, eligible Illinois students from families earning $75,000 or less have tuition and mandatory fees covered. Approximately 55% of first-year students are supported through the program.
“The setting may change, from a classroom to a laboratory to a neighborhood, but our purpose remains the same: putting knowledge and opportunity within reach so people can build better lives,” Miranda said.
“Thank you so much for all that you provide, all that you do, and will continue to do.”
Brandon Hernandez
Scholarship Recipient, College of Medicine
That opportunity takes many forms.
For Krishna Shah BS '23, a Doctor of Medicine and Master of Public Health candidate at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, scholarship support provided greater freedom to explore an interest in medicine, participate in student organizations and volunteer in the community. Along the way, Shah found a calling to care for patients, serve communities and expand access to health care. “You believed in me before I fully believed in myself,” Shah told donors.
Opportunity also creates space for discovery. University of Illinois System President Timothy L. Killeen pointed to UIC’s new Drug Discovery and Cancer Research Pavilion, which brings cancer research, drug discovery, medicinal chemistry and translational science together under one roof. “Our research saves lives and creates jobs,” Killeen said.
“When you’re a first-generation student, you want to give back to those who were in the same position that you were once in as well.”
Leonela Torres
Presidential Awards Program Recipient, Honors College
As the evening drew to a close, Vice Chancellor for Advancement Bill Bole widened the lens. Across UIC, he said, people are protecting, exploring, healing and building, from advancing knowledge and caring for patients to strengthening public policy and creating opportunities for students. Pursuing ambitions that bold takes a community. It takes people willing to “believe in us,” “advocate for us” and “dream with us.”
Those connections matter because no part of UIC’s mission stands alone, Bole said. The people advancing health, educating students, making discoveries and serving communities strengthen an ecosystem built around a shared public purpose.
Then he turned the evening back toward the donors in the room.
“A lot of stories have been told tonight,” Bole said. “But there’s one more story, and that’s your story.”
He invited donors to deepen their connection to the part of UIC’s mission that speaks most strongly to them, while also “looking up” to see the larger community working alongside them.
At Evening with Legacies and Leaders, UIC students and faculty showed how their talents, ideas and drive to serve are amplified by a community invested in their success.
Jaqueza Thomas came to UIC with a drive to serve the city that raised him. At Evening with Legacies and Leaders, the UIC senior studying political science and public policy invited the donors present to imagine where that drive could lead. “When you invest in a UIC student, you may also be investing in an entire community,” he said.
For Thomas, need-based financial support created room to focus on his education while building Chicago Emerging Stars, a nonprofit serving young people on Chicago’s South and West Sides. “UIC didn't just give me a campus,” Thomas said. “It gave me a community.”
His was one of many stories shared Oct. 23, at Harold Washington Library, where about 300 donors, friends, faculty, staff, community members and university leaders gathered for UIC’s signature donor-recognition event.
“The Lucy Sprague Professorship demonstrates to the university, and to the law school community, that public interest is not just service. It’s also scholarship. And that impact and that distinction matters.”
Kim D. Ricardo
Lucy Sprague Professor in Public Interest, UIC Law
Together, their stories illustrated an idea Chancellor Marie Lynn Miranda returned to throughout the evening: At UIC, access and excellence strengthen one another. More than 37,000 students enrolled at UIC this fall, setting another university record. Through UIC Aspire, eligible Illinois students from families earning $75,000 or less have tuition and mandatory fees covered. Approximately 55% of first-year students are supported through the program.
“The setting may change, from a classroom to a laboratory to a neighborhood, but our purpose remains the same: putting knowledge and opportunity within reach so people can build better lives,” Miranda said.
“Thank you so much for all that you provide, all that you do, and will continue to do.”
Brandon Hernandez
Scholarship Recipient, College of Medicine
That opportunity takes many forms.
For Krishna Shah BS '23, a Doctor of Medicine and Master of Public Health candidate at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, scholarship support provided greater freedom to explore an interest in medicine, participate in student organizations and volunteer in the community. Along the way, Shah found a calling to care for patients, serve communities and expand access to health care. “You believed in me before I fully believed in myself,” Shah told donors.
Opportunity also creates space for discovery. University of Illinois System President Timothy L. Killeen pointed to UIC’s new Drug Discovery and Cancer Research Pavilion, which brings cancer research, drug discovery, medicinal chemistry and translational science together under one roof. “Our research saves lives and creates jobs,” Killeen said.
“When you’re a first-generation student, you want to give back to those who were in the same position that you were once in as well.”
Leonela Torres
Presidential Awards Program Recipient, Honors College
As the evening drew to a close, Vice Chancellor for Advancement Bill Bole widened the lens. Across UIC, he said, people are protecting, exploring, healing and building, from advancing knowledge and caring for patients to strengthening public policy and creating opportunities for students. Pursuing ambitions that bold takes a community. It takes people willing to “believe in us,” “advocate for us” and “dream with us.”
Those connections matter because no part of UIC’s mission stands alone, Bole said. The people advancing health, educating students, making discoveries and serving communities strengthen an ecosystem built around a shared public purpose.
Then he turned the evening back toward the donors in the room.
“A lot of stories have been told tonight,” Bole said. “But there’s one more story, and that’s your story.”
He invited donors to deepen their connection to the part of UIC’s mission that speaks most strongly to them, while also “looking up” to see the larger community working alongside them.
