6 congressmen on campus yesterday

Six members of Congress were at UIS yesterday for an official congressional subcommittee hearing on rural broadband arranged by Congressman Tim Johnson (R-Urbana). It's common to have public officials on campus -- because one of UIS's big strengths is educating about government. Much of what we do is state-related. So to have this field hearing with six congressmen from four states on campus was unusual and special. Chancellor Koch sat casually with them over a sandwich lunch in our restaurant. One of them noted during the hearing that our town's Abraham Lincoln used the latest fast technology of his era because he used the telegraph every day during the Civil War and received updates from his generals regularly via telegraph. ... And I have to admit, when I was driving these six men to a seed company and then the airport, I was saying to myself, "Don't crash this van, Ed." I think we'll have more pictures posted soon.