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Durbin Tours Elmhurst Campus
Sen. Richard J. Durbin visited Elmhurst College on August 2 to meet with President S. Alan Ray, tour the campus and learn about the College’s Science and Health Center Initiative which calls for renovation and expansion of the Arthur J. Schaible Science Center.
The Illinois Democrat was responding to an invitation from President Ray to learn about the College and the initiatives under way since Ray assumed the presidency two years ago. Durbin had also reached out to Ray as part of a broader sounding out of officials in higher education to learn how the United States can raise the percentage of its population with college degrees—a level of education considered necessary to compete in the global economy.
Durbin was in Elmhurst to assess flood damage in Chicago's western suburbs after a weekend of record storms. The city was one of the communities hardest hit.
Durbin, an Illinois Democrat who is the Senate's Assistant Majority Leader, spent more than an hour on campus, starting with a discussion over coffee in the President’s Dining Room with Ray and his senior staff. Next, Durbin and three staff members were led on a tour by Ray and Bruce Mather, executive director, Office of Facilities Management which included the site of the proposed Schaible Science Center renovation. The College is seeking to raise $44 million from its alumni, friends, and partners in foundations, corporations and the state and federal governments.
One highlight of the tour was the Deicke Center for Nursing Education’s simulation lab, where students train on robotic models of a man and a baby that can be programmed to exhibit a variety of symptoms and conditions. The sim lab is slated to become part of the new Science and Health Center.
The tour ended at West Hall, the College’s newest residence hall that is LEED-certified and a model for sustainable design.
