Creating Access to Ensure Excellence

What happens when you give someone a chance?

Knowledge is discovered. Neighborhoods thrive. A child grows up healthy. Bright students shine. Groundbreaking ideas emerge. Future leaders find their vision. People pursue dreams. A dream to find a cure for AIDS. A dream to teach low income students in Chicago or Decatur…to play the violin at Carnegie Hall…to return home and manage the family farm…to win a gold medal in the Paralympics. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign became one of the premier public universities in the world today because our faculty and students pursue their dreams.

Here, you’ll read stories from University of Illinois students who capture today’s Illini spirit. Each of these students demonstrates the difference that one person can make in the lives of others. They all want to change the world for the better, and with your help, they’re doing it. Private giving’s potential is always evolving, and with each generation, new energy is brought to the twin tasks of cultivating individual and societal improvement, to the art and science of making life better for all. The most compelling value found in philanthropy is creating a better life for someone, someone who will have more choices and better chances because of a philanthropist like you. With your student support, you're transforming individual lives as well as helping us to match great minds with a great University.