PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 25, No. 10, Nov. 17, 2005

Chancellor pledges Illinois will ‘develop the whole student’

By Sharita Forrest, Assistant Editor
217-244-1072; slforres@uiuc.edu

Click photo to enlarge Photo by L. Brian Stauffer Answer man Chancellor Richard Herman, who was the speaker at the Nov. 8 “Know Your University” forum at the University YMCA, said he is forming a task force that will create a series of events and activities aimed to make students compassionate citizens who are impassioned about public service. Herman also fielded questions from the audience on issues ranging from pedestrian safety on campus to the university’s pouring rights contract with Coca-Cola.

Chancellor Richard Herman plans to help Illinois students become better citizens by developing initiatives that foster civic responsibility and leadership. The Chancellor’s Task Force on Civic Commitment in the 21st Century, a working group of faculty and staff members, students and community members, is being formed and will plan a series of events, conferences, speakers, research projects and creative endeavors during 2006-2007 that will foster citizenship.

Herman announced formation of the task force during his talk at the University YMCA’s “Know Your University” forum on Nov. 8. He said that Illinois must do more than prepare students to earn a living; Illinois must develop the whole student by instilling knowledge and inspiring action yoked to worthy social purpose in addition to imparting wisdom, understanding and compassion.

Herman said he would like to expand community-based learning initiatives on campus, and hopes to send approximately 100 students per year to Washington, D.C., where they would earn academic credit while observing and experiencing the inner workings of American government.

Herman said that because of globalization “ideas, innovation and creativity will be the currency of exchange … and we must make creativity itself one of our fundamental products.”

“I want our Illinois students to be touched by the widest range of insights, from the joy of literature that can stop and make them remember to smell the roses, to the beauty of art and music that can touch their souls, to the wisdom of the social sciences that can make them step outside themselves and see society whole, to the wonder of the physical sciences and the mysteries they reveal,” Herman said.

President B. Joseph White’s strategic planning initiative is the first step in evaluating the efficacy of all the university’s programs, services and departments, and from that process will emerge a vision and a plan for achieving excellence in all facets, the attainment of which will be the responsibility of all members of the campus community, Herman said.

Following Herman’s talk, audience members asked questions on a variety of topics, including how Illinois will ensure accessibility for middle-class and lower-middle-class students despite tuition increases. Herman said that the Illinois Promise program – a financial aid program begun with the fall 2005 semester that covers the estimated cost of tuition and fees, room, board and textbooks for entering freshmen whose family incomes are at or below the federal poverty level – will provide additional financial aid to ensure that students graduate unburdened by loan debt.

Herman also was asked to express his views on efforts to unionize academic professionals on campus (“I’ve yet to be convinced that migration to unionization has improved things,” Herman said) and on renewal of the university’s pouring rights contract with Coca-Cola, in light of allegations that Coke has perpetrated human rights abuses against union workers. In reference to the Coke contract, Herman responded: “We must all speak out to issues of social responsibility,” and said that he would be writing a letter to Coca-Cola expressing his concern about the allegations of unfair labor practices.

In relation to pedestrian safety on campus, Herman said: “We have come to the stark realization that the current state of affairs is unacceptable,” and he is requesting that the cities of Champaign and Urbana, the university and the Mass Transit District engage external consultants to evaluate campus safety and propose improvements. Other measures being undertaken include striping crosswalks, using radar trailers to slow traffic and stepped-up enforcement of pedestrian laws by campus police. The MTD, which also has voluntarily slowed buses to 20 mph in the University District, will be fitting buses with flashing lights and beepers that warn pedestrians of turns and is proposing new routes that minimize the number of turns. Officials also are looking at ways to reduce traffic on campus, but closing Sixth Street to vehicular traffic is not one of the options, Herman said.

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