Illini friends and family packed the Park Grill Plaza in Millennium Park on the afternoon of July 18 for the first-ever Illini Fest event. The university had its orange and blue on display for hundreds of Chicagoans passing by the Bean, including Illinois alumni, current students, and potential future Illini.
College of Education staff spoke with alumni from 1980 who went on to teach in Chicago Public Schools, as well as young 2016 alumni who are teaching in Argentina. They met students who will arrive on campus this coming fall, and maybe a few who start their journey with Education in 2035. The love for Education at Illinois was not in short supply.
Chicago temperatures spiked during the three-hour event, but visitors were in the company of Illinois notables, including: Chancellor Robert Jones, new CMO Eric Minor, football head coach Lovie Smith, and Illinois men's basketball player Giorgi Bezhanishvili, who gave a few lucky attendees salsa dancing lessons. Check out these photos of Illini Fest that campus shared.
The purpose of Illini Fest was to bring the University experience to the more than 150,000 Fighting Illini alumni living in Chicagoland.
“It’s about all the university coming in to remind our alums that we’re still a pretty outstanding university and to remind others in Chicago of the value proposition and the innovation and economic vitality the university has brought to the entire state and the city of Chicago,” said Chancellor Jones.
