UI Foundation/UI Advancement Weekly Update 06.18.21

Dear Team:

This week was one for the history books. It has been the first week that the state of Illinois has been fully open since last year. I hope you have been able to enjoy some of the freedom that brings to you as you navigate your daily life. I know I am certainly grateful that it has allowed me to expand my circle and visit people (in person!) that I have not seen in many months.

There was also wonderful philanthropic news. UIC was the recipient of a $40 million gift from philanthropist and novelist, MacKenzie Scott. The gift was announced earlier in the week and is currently the largest gift from an individual in UIC’s history. In her personal announcement about this $2.7 billion round of donations, Ms. Scott summed it up by quoting Rumi:

“A candle as it diminishes explains,
Gathering more and more is not the way.
Burn, become light and heat and help. Melt.”

Ms. Scott joins a growing list of people who have generously donated “megagifts” to the University of Illinois System. For the System, this impactful group of donors perhaps most notably originated at UIUC in the 1980s when Arnold and Mabel Beckman chose to give $40 million to build the Beckman Institute, which at the time was the single largest gift to a public institution. Over the past few decades, the list of mega-donors to the U of I has grown to include Ms. Scott, Larry and Beth Gies, Tom Siebel, and Doris Kelly Christopher, just to mention a few.

These philanthropists are from a wide range of backgrounds and found success in a variety of different industries, but one common thread is their belief in higher education and the University of Illinois System. And we would be remiss if we didn’t also include the tens of thousands of donors who, when combined, provide the same kind of mega-giving power to our universities. Large or small, we are grateful for each and every one of our donors who believe in higher education and its ability to transform lives and society.

As part of the advancement community, we all play a role in securing and administering these inspiring gifts to support faculty, staff, and students at our universities. Please use this as an opportunity to take a moment to appreciate and thank your colleagues for contributing to a job well done!

I wish you the best for a wonderful weekend!

Regards,

Jim