Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner recently kicked off a daylong visit to Elmhurst by speaking to about 200 guests at the 45th Annual Elmhurst College President’s Community Breakfast.
The President’s Community Breakfast is a yearly celebration of the partnership between Elmhurst College and the larger community.
Along with the Governor, guests at this year’s President’s Community Breakfast included Elmhurst Mayor Steve Morley, DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin and Illinois State Rep. Patti Bellock.
As reported by the Chicago Tribune, Governor Rauner called for change in how Illinois does business and pressed his plan to draft six new floor bills in the next three weeks. The Governor also spoke about his state pension reform plan and his efforts to weed out widespread conflicts of interest throughout Illinois. Afterward, Governor Rauner headed over to the Elmhurst 2015 St. Patrick’s Day Parade, where he served as this year’s grand marshal.
Elmhurst College’s 13th president, Dr. S. Alan Ray, spoke about the College’s accomplishments during a generally difficult time for higher education across the country, and about the relationships between the College and other institutions and organizations that have contributed significantly toward those successes. Dr. Ray will be leaving the College in June, after serving as president for the past seven years.
Rauner’s previous visit to Elmhurst College was in June of 2013, only two days after formally announcing his candidacy for governor of Illinois. He came to campus as the first speaker in “Fixing Illinois,” the College’s lecture series about the challenges facing our state and what citizens can do to help address those challenges and move the state forward.