To our students, faculty and staff across the University of Illinois System:

By now all of you are well into one of my favorite rituals of every academic year – beginning!

And with that beginning, our campuses open and fill with bright minds, big ideas, and grand hopes and dreams.

Our core mission – the pursuit of knowledge, the creation of opportunity, the betterment of society through research and discovery – is renewed, made fresh and vital with our return each August.

We each have vital parts to play, and opportunities ahead.

If you are a student, I urge you to dig in and take full advantage of the chance to learn from world-class faculty and each other, to discover.

Try something new that stretches and challenges you; dive in and really be a part of this experience that is greater than any one of us.

We are all part of a U of I System family that numbers about a million people all over the world – alumni, students, faculty, and staff.

This gives us real power to have a global impact.

That happens through the education of our students and the places they will take as informed, involved global citizens in communities across Illinois and beyond.

It happens through our innovative research: finding solutions to challenges facing us in health and well-being, the changing climate, the need to build and maintain a vibrant and sustainable economy, and nurturing democracy and equity around the world.

And it happens through partnership – working with others in higher education, government, and the private sector to enhance the best of what we do and extend its impact.

I know that the world has presented us all with many challenges over the past year.

But know, too, that what we do here together, how we engage with each other and respect our differences, can help us all blaze a path forward.

I wish you all an incredible fall full of the best that this world-class university system has to offer.

Sincerely,

Tim