President's Perspective
Dear Millikin Friends and Family:
One of the great joys of being at Millikin for me is having the opportunity to join with others on campus to invest their time and talents in helping Decatur and our surrounding community. It's special for me because I grew up here and know the importance of Millikin's relationship with the city and county.
It would be difficult to list everything that Millikin does to support Decatur. Whenever I hear from Decatur residents, they often remark about the visual and performing arts and Millikin's exceptional programs, recitals and performances that have brought pride and joy to those with whom I am communicating. I am always appreciative of the recognition of the incredible array of talent that Millikin has to offer, but that is a very small accounting of the many ways in which Millikin adds value to Decatur.
Just from an economic standpoint, each year Millikin's employees, students and community members provide approximately $35 million of direct and indirect economic impact to the city. This comes in the form of salaries and wages we pay our employees, from investments we make to support the many programs operated by community members, and from restaurant and hotel use by the many visitors to Millikin, whether it is during our Move-in Week for new students, our Homecoming festivities for alumni, or from our Vespers program and many others.
But more importantly, our students and employees go out and do good in the community. We are volunteers on local non-profit boards, helping those in need in our community to find some level of peace during their daily hardships. We provide consulting services to local businesses, offering our expertise in areas of digital marketing, social media use and helping to develop business plans for small business success. We are health care workers, nursing students who are at the bedside of patients or in community clinics, offering our care and concern when others are ill and in need of a kind word of support. And, we are educators, driven by our passion to share in the wonders of learning to be school teachers, local experts and informed guides to share the wonders of our disciplines with community members. I'm constantly impressed by the level of commitment that our faculty, staff and students make to helping our friends in the Decatur area through their time and talent.
In our ever changing world, the constancy of caring, dedicated individuals who know that community is about more than simply a street address is an inspiration to me and to many others. I am often humbled by the willingness of our campus members to engage in helping our community to be its best version of itself. Millikin is truly Decatur's University!
Dr. Jim Reynolds
President
Millikin University