Hail, Alma Mater!

Since Champaign-Urbana is only an hour or so away from my parents' house, we decided to schedule a campus tour of the University of Illinois for M today. I was happy to see that the Bread Company on Goodwin was still in business, but they no longer make the cheese croissants that I loved to get when I was a student. OK, so it has been almost 25 years, but still...

I settled for something to drink from Espresso Royale next door instead.

The tour was scheduled to start at 10AM from the Alice Campbell Alumni Center. What a great facility to welcome prospective students to campus! The speaker from the admissions office gave a nice spiel showcasing all that the university has to offer. But we definitely didn't like her slide with the cost of tuition - yikes!

Facing northwest from the entrance to the Alumni Center,
with Illinois Street Residence (Wardall) in the background

Afterwards, student guides took everyone out to see the campus in small groups of 3-4 prospective students and their families. Our guide was an engineering student from Minnesota and a pole vaulter on the women's track and field team.

Lincoln Hall is so nice after the renovation!

It was a lot of fun for R and me to see how much things have (and haven't) changed around campus!

I did my undergraduate research in Roger Adams Lab (RAL)...

...and spent a lot of time prepping demos for lectures in 100 Noyes Lab

Alma Mater looking good after her facelift!

The boys were especially impressed with the campus recreation center next to Allen Hall. "Students can really use this whenever they want, for FREE?!" I remember thinking how nice it was when they built a small gym on the Urbana side of campus, but this place is WIMPE on steroids - how awesome would it have been to have that facility right next to our residence halls?!

After the tour, we headed to Green Street to meet one of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship staffworkers and check out the Loft, their meeting space. He joined us for lunch - it was great to hear how things are going with the campus ministry at the U of I!

M had a tour of the engineering campus scheduled for the afternoon, so R went with him while J and I sought air-conditioned refuge in the Illini Union - some bowling and a nap in the lounge, just like the good old days!

M and R said that the tour of the engineering campus was interesting - so many new buildings!  

Electrical and Computer Engineering Building

So, do we have a future Illini in the family? M liked the campus and loved the idea that he could still participate in a band or orchestra as a non-music major, but the oppressive heat today definitely wasn't a positive selling point. Good thing we didn't schedule our tour in the middle of winter!