No, Rauner didn’t “forget” about UIC yesterday
Thursday, Apr 19, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
While Bruce Rauner is on another tour abroad to promote a state he constantly attacks, he called into a radio show yesterday to discuss a higher education system he decimated— only to forget about a state university.
While discussing the University of Illinois, the failed governor said he wants to “get them to open a campus in Chicago,” seemingly unaware of the University of Illinois at Chicago. The clueless comment comes after Rauner devastated higher education in Illinois, forcing state universities to junk bond status, slashing spending on MAP grants, and driving students from state universities.
“Bruce Rauner only remembers our colleges and universities when he is decimating their funding,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “Instead of investing in Illinois’ students, this failed governor has leveraged their future to pursue his destructive agenda.”
* The governor’s comment made kind of a splash on social media yesterday…
And etc.
* I checked with the governor’s office yesterday about this apparent faux pas and was told Rauner was referring to this…
Gov. Bruce Rauner and the University of Illinois are pursuing a sprawling innovation center in the South Loop with two other research universities, but the project’s backers have yet to forge a political consensus and a lack of detail about how it would be funded has created uncertainty about the project.
Rauner is backing the University of Illinois-led Discovery Partners Institute, a public-private facility for conducting specialized research in an array of fields, including computing and big data, food and agriculture, and health and wellness.
- Al - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 11:00 am:
The u of I has a medical school in Peoria too.
- @misterjayem - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 11:01 am:
Gotta credit Rauner’s team for their hustle, but I ain’t buying that explanation.
– MrJM
- PJ - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 11:02 am:
I mean… it seems pretty clear he did forget about it. He specifically mentioned Peoria and Rockford, which are U of I’s two other primary campuses and then said he wants the same thing in Chicago. Which already exists. His excuse doesn’t track.
- WSJ Paywall - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 11:04 am:
The spin makes it clear he 100% completely forgot about it.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 11:05 am:
The Discovery Partners Institute would not be a U of I campus, from my understanding.
Here are many words in a Big Salad saying something-something about what it would be. Beware of low-flying jargon.
http://innovation.uillinois.edu/about.html
- Juice - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 11:07 am:
I have never really understood why he hasn’t utilized UIC as the focal point of the Discovery Partners Institute, other then him wanting to create a separate entity that he could claim is his and his alone. Who cares if it creates greater redundancy as long as its good for his ego.
- Concerned Dem - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 11:09 am:
So Rauner tries his hardest to enact policies that starve the “beast” while hinting at needing to close campuses / limit offering around the state and now wants a state school to “expand”… Makes perfect sense.
- FDB - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 11:13 am:
Nuance in politics is dead
- Saluki - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 11:16 am:
Meanwhile, Southern, Eastern, Western….they can all burn….thanks Bruce! Appreciate everything your are doing for us Hillbilly bumpkins.
- Lucky Pierre - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 11:17 am:
The University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign is the #6 ranked engineering school in America.
The University of Illinois Chicago is the #70 ranked engineering school in America.
Comparing a world class engineering school to a mid tier school is like comparing apples and oranges.
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate
- A Jack - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 11:23 am:
Maybe he could promote a U of I campus in Springfield next.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 11:23 am:
The cost of the Discovery Partnes would take care of the huge backlog of deferred maintenance issues at every public university campus and provide much needed state appropriations. But Rauner would rather just focus on U of I.
- NOT Milton Friedman - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 11:29 am:
U of I also has a medical campus in Rockford. So pretty much wrong on all accounts.
- Soccermom - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 11:49 am:
Also, there is already a U of I innovation center in Chicago. It’s UI Labs.
- The Way I See It - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 11:50 am:
There is a Facebook ad targeting UIC students, staff, and grads that pretty much wrote itself
- Eric Zorn - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 12:05 pm:
Verbatim: “The U of I is an amazing magnet for talent. Companies want to come where the U of I is. That’s why so many companies have located offices in Champaign Urbana. But if we can all get them to open a campus in Chicago as well as Rockford and Peoria, we can really light our economy, really make it boom and really grow fast. The U of I is extraordinary. ”
Source: about 3:45 into this interview on WLS-AM http://www.wlsam.com/2018/04/18/governor-bruce-rauner-heads-to-europe-on-jobs-mission/
It seems me that the governor’s office’s point of view is that we should consider what he meant, not what he said. Because he didn’t say “another campus in Chicago” or “expand its campus in Chicago,” he said “if we can all get them to open A campus in Chicago…”
- UI Alum - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 12:19 pm:
Folks, everywhere in America when you refer to U of I, you’re referring to the Urbana campus. Yes, we routinely add the UC, but no one in America does that. Listen to any sporting event, and no announcer adds the town names, unlike with UIC.
It’s pretty obvious he’s talking about bringing the intellectual heft of U of I’s Urbana’s campus to other cities in the state. So UIC is in Chicago. UIUC is not. They are related entities, but they aren’t the same. Your UIC degree is going to be looked at differently than your UIUC degree.
- JS Mill - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 12:28 pm:
=Comparing a world class engineering school to a mid tier school is like comparing apples and oranges.=
It was not a statement on comparison, he does not know that UIC exists.
Sounds like you need a reading lesson.
- Jocko - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 12:30 pm:
==It’s pretty obvious he’s talking about==
Are you a member or trying out for the BTiA?
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 12:34 pm:
To Mr. Zorn… what if Speaker Madigan was Governor.
Ugh.
To the Post,
The realities of what Rauner meant, didn’t mean, should mean, or interpret… here’s the rub.
Rauner only respects any school called U of I, and has NO time for state universities not named U of I.
The rest, well, the rest is the “this school is better, that schoool isn’t this” both Diana and Bruce Rauner want… so they can close… Eastern… Western… Northeastern…
…
Carbondale.
The biggest mistake I’m “reading”… is ignorance of “Rauner doesn’t know”… or… “what about UIC”
That’s the ignorance.
The truth… the truth is… Rauner is starving illinois’ universities… while others are concerned about egos, names, slamming Rauner, and mocking Rauner’s words.
Again. Ugh.
- Annonin' - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 12:37 pm:
We knew he was talkin’ about U of I/Bailey. The razzle dazzle plan from a pal of the lst Lady. As a pure real estate deal the land is a dud. with the U of I logo draped around it might work for awhile
- Annonin' - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 12:41 pm:
What the responders/posters keep forgetting is the U of I other facilities lack. UofI/Bailey has a dormant tract of land that badly needs a boost
- Annonin' - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 12:53 pm:
UofI/Bailey does not seem to be gettin’ through wonder why
- Precinct Captain - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 12:56 pm:
A world record for spinning going on here.
- titan - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 1:12 pm:
Granted, Wikipedia is not the most reliable source around (but they do fairly well with non-controversial mainstream info):
The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) is a public research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the University of Illinois system, UIC is also the largest university in the Chicago area, having approximately 30,000 students enrolled in 15 colleges.
UIC operates the largest medical school in the United States with research expenditures exceeding $412 million and consistently ranks in the top 50 U.S. institutions for research expenditures. In the 2015 U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of colleges and universities, UIC ranked as the 129th best in the “national universities” category.
- Arthur Andersen - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 1:15 pm:
Annonin’, I’ll bite. What is UofI/Bailey? I think I decoded the vacant tract of land piece, but need help on the rest.
- Annonin' - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 1:36 pm:
Mr/Ms Arthur Anderson
Trying checkin’ Ounce of Prevention BofD for clues
- JoanP - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 1:47 pm:
=It seems to me that the Governor’s office point of view is that we should consider what he meant, not what he said.=
Taking a leaf from the first Mayor Daley’s Press Secretary, Earl Bush, who famously said, “Don’t print what he said. Print what he meant.”
- Arthur Andersen - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 2:00 pm:
Annonin’, you know my gender and it hasn’t changed lol.
Roger on the Bailey Campus. Had the right piece of ground, just needed to put a name with it. Everything is Related in Illinois. What a historic site. Wonder how Trustee Fitzgerald would vote?
- Eric Zorn - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 3:32 pm:
To Oswego Willie
You write “Ugh.”
I write “Huh?”
“What if Speaker Madigan was Governor?”
Are you asking if we’d tweak him on social media for misspeaking? If so, then yes. Are you asking us to perform a bigger thought experiment about what the state of the state would be if Madigan had his way in all things? If so I will declare the question beyond the scope.
“The truth… the truth is… Rauner is starving Illinois’ universities… while others are concerned about egos, names, slamming Rauner, and mocking Rauner’s words.”
It’s long been my argument that Rauner’s confrontational, stubborn style and fundamentally dishonest persona plays a significant role in the dysfunction of the last three plus years, and that his public presentation is a window into that problem. He knows how to run a “bidness” but he doesn’t know how to be the chief executive of a divided government. The universities are starving not because he did or didn’t have a brain-o about UIC, but because he doesn’t have the first idea about how to play the political hand that was dealt him and seems to imagine that negotiation and compromise begin with calling those in the other party crooks.
That’s my point. What’s yours?
- Dr. Pepper - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 3:35 pm:
UI is growing but almost the entire growth in enrollment in the system is……….at UIC. Watch out UIUC - and someone should check the comparative research expenditures: they are getting closer. No one including our Gov seems to know this.
- James Knell - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 4:03 pm:
This proves you can be a “self-made billionaire” and a certifiable moron at the same time.
And come on Eric Zorn… if Madigan made that mistake everyone in the state would know about it. We would all be compelled laugh at the stupid Democrat. But being a billionaire gets you off the hook every time.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 4:14 pm:
===It seems me that the governor’s office’s point of view is that we should consider what he meant, not what he said===
You’re assuming that the governor of Illinois didn’t know UIC exists?
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 4:30 pm:
Mr. Zorne
Dorm room thinking, or thinking of things that are germaine by supposing a ridiculous thing… you may have supposed that question before. You go and declare whatever you think you need to declare, if it helps you.
===That’s my point. What’s yours?===
To that point…
===The universities are starving not because he did or didn’t have a brain-o about UIC, but because he doesn’t have the first idea about how to play the political hand that was dealt him and seems to imagine that negotiation and compromise begin with calling those in the other party crooks.===
In governing, you fund something at a level of zero if you want it gone.
Rauner signed K-12 funding, for example, needing it to exist. Higher Ed, not so much.
Vetoed that refuse to fund, say a program, agency, a whole higher education system for a state… you fund them at zero with a veto, or fund them with monies, with a signature, that’s not dorm room foolishness, that actual governing, albeit hurtful governing, is taking place. It’s no theoretical, or guessing, or taking a step back and gaming what could be.
Rauner wants universities starved, closed passively.
That’s my point, Mr. Zorne.
You want to worry about tweaking via tweeting, recognize the damage being done isn’t just the “he’s just that way” bad, it’s happening by the tools of governing. No need for dorm style thinking.
- 37B - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 4:36 pm:
@ Eric Zorn (with great respect)
The only bidness knowledge Rauner is shown to have is in dismantling troubled businesses. His only known foray into building an actual service business, LeapSource, ended in failure and the infamous quote, taken from a sworn deposition that:
“I will bury her.
I will make her radioactive…” (It goes on)
“Bidness” as usual?
Also, whether or not Rauner knows or “doesn’t know how to be the chief executive of a divided government[,]” he has clearly chosen not to act as a chief executive (”I am not in charge”).
Since he’s operating Illinois as a Bust Out, he hasn’t needed to break out whatever governmental chief executive skill set he may have.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 4:54 pm:
–He won’t get the black vote anyway.–
Really not the point.
- Eric Zorn - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 5:35 pm:
I’m sorry, I don’t speak Oswegan. Can anyone translate this for me?
>>>Vetoed that refuse to fund, say a program, agency, a whole higher education system for a state… you fund them at zero with a veto, or fund them with monies, with a signature, that’s not dorm room foolishness, that actual governing, albeit hurtful governing, is taking place.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 5:46 pm:
This seems to have more to do with these research projects being ‘public/private owned’ than anything else. We all know Rauner is big on privatizing the universities.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 5:50 pm:
Oh Mr. Zorne,
Vetoes that refuse to fund, say a program, agency, a whole higher education system for a state… you fund them at zero with a veto, or fund them with monies, with a signature, that’s not dorm room foolishness, that actual governing, albeit hurtful governing, is taking place.
How’s that?
As @StatehouseChick says… “Simple”
- crazybleedingheart - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 6:25 pm:
Not just UIC. UIUC has a presence. Innovation Labs, as soccermom said.
Plus the Illini Center. https://illinicenter.illinois.edu/university-departments/
- JakeCP - Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 6:37 pm:
– Gov. Bruce Rauner and the University of Illinois are pursuing a sprawling innovation center in the South Loop with two other research universities, but the project’s backers have yet to forge a political consensus and a lack of detail about how it would be funded has created uncertainty about the project.
Rauner is backing the University of Illinois-led Discovery Partners Institute, a public-private facility for conducting specialized research in an array of fields, including computing and big data, food and agriculture, and health and wellness. –
(UIC Student) That was my initial thought when you first posted this story. I am not sure why Ald. Solis is going after the Governor when his office has consistently ignored UIC students.
- Dr. Pepper - Friday, Apr 20, 18 @ 9:29 am:
Rauner knows just one thing about the U of I: Urbana Engineering - that’s it and its obvious from his statments. In fact the highest rated (USNWR) college/programs in the entire system are in Chicago.