The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute held its annual Renewing Illinois summit at SIU campus on Oct. 24 and 25. The Paul Simon Institute is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to helping young people prepare for careers in public service. It holds this summit yearly, drawing in students from dozens of schools state-wide.

The event had speakers SIU system President Dan Mahony, Director of The Paul Simon Institute John Shaw, former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar, Rep.Carol Ammons and former Illinois State Historian Sam Wheeler. 

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The event kicked off with Edgar, who talked about his time as governor and how important higher education was to the economy of Illinois.

“It’s my pleasure to be back on SIU’s campus and particularly to be with the Paul Simon Institute,” Edgar said. “I’ve always been a big supporter of public education, but higher education, to me, was very important.”

The following day, Shaw held a panel with SIU System President Mahony and author Jim Nowlan, who wrote Higher Education in Illinois: Facing a Tsunami of Change. An excerpt from the book was handed to attendees of the event. They discussed the future of higher education in Illinois.

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“Last year alone, 2% of the universities in the country went up,” Mahony said. “To some extent, I think some institutions are going to have to change the way they operate to survive.” 

Ammons spoke on Oct. 25, giving a presentation of the General Assembly’s proposed plan to give funding to the universities of Illinois.

She talked about the budget Illinois passed that cut funding for higher education.

“If you asked me 20 years ago if Illinois would not fund higher education, I would have been laughing,” Ammons said. “Why would we not fund education? But, in Illinois right now, the funding approach is pretty much flat.” 

Reporter Mylee Walker can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Instagram @myleewalkerwrites. To stay up to date on all your southern Illinois news, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptian on Facebook and on X @dailyegyptian. 

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