>> Coming up on the impact report.

Upgrades to Campus Lake.

Make a splash.

Watch crews install a new fountain with a 60 foot water spout.

Our team goes behind the scenes with Saluki Football.

How quarterback DJ Williams gets game ready.

A gift that hits all the right notes.

Why an e alum donated dozens of instruments to the School of Music.

But first, e gears up for its biggest demolition in decades.

Find out which buildings are coming down and what's next.

The impact report starts right now.

[MUSIC] Hello and welcome to the Impact Report, brought to you from WSIU Studios at Southern Illinois University.

I'm your host, Anna Toomey.

We're excited to share stories of impact and innovation happening right here on campus with you.

We have lots to get to on the show today, starting with major demolition work happening on West Campus.

The Foundation has provided the university with a bridge loan to fund the demolition of multiple buildings on Old Greek Row and kick start, a proposal that would transform student housing.

Crews have already started to clear out and tear down buildings.

The plan is to eventually build new student housing.

Check out these early renderings of a proposed Saluki Village.

Saluki village would provide a new home to nearly 900 students, as well as special interest housing.

Our own Brittney Bateman is on West Campus with more on what to expect as demolition gets started.

>> This is an exciting time for .

As you can see behind me, demolition has already begun on Old Greek Row over the next several weeks.

The six buildings behind me will be coming down.

>> Three.

Two.

one.

Here we go.

Demo down.

>> People gathered to celebrate the demolition and share their memories of Old Greek Road during a recent event hosted by the Foundation.

>> What we wanted to show everyone out here because we know you had special moments in these buildings.

>> The first buildings to go down will be Collier, Kaplan, Fulkerson, Tallman, Kesner and Wakeland Halls.

This is phase one of the project.

After that, eight other buildings within the old Greek Row area will be torn down.

All of this work paves the way for the proposed student housing development called Saluki Village.

Saluki village would include 898 new beds, a community building and 4 to 5 special interest houses.

We spoke with Impact Strategies, the company overseeing the demolition stage of this project, about what we can expect next.

>> We're still doing preparation and abatement of some of the materials that need to come out first.

We'll get the the basements all backfilled as we're doing it.

This area will all be regraded in preparation for what potentially could be the two new buildings.

>> If approved by the Board of Trustees.

Construction will begin soon with a target opening date of August 2027.

Back to you in the studio.

>> For many Salukis, Old Greek Row brings back fond memories.

The buildings went up in 1959 and often housed students involved in Greek life.

That was until 2012, when the buildings could not be brought up to code and students had to move out.

Most of the buildings in Old Greek Row are named after SIU professors.

Stay up to date on this exciting development by following the Foundation on social media, visiting siuf.org, and watching the next episode of the Impact Report.

As West Campus buildings come down.

The new Tedrick Welcome Center is going up fast.

Crews have been hard at work adding walls and a roof to what will be SIU 's newest building i more than a decade, and the new home of the Foundation.

Our own Jeff Gleim has an update from inside the construction zone.

>> I'm here at the Welcome Center site along with Mike Michael, Project Director of Impact Strategies.

Mike, the last episode of the Impact Report, we you gave us an up close look at what was going on in the building.

Turn over my shoulder and I'm looking at this and I all I can do is say wow.

A lot has happened since our last report.

What can you tell us about some of those highlights?

>> Yeah.

So over the last couple months, we've really had a lot of the exterior of the building.

We've got the cast stone, the brick, the window systems, and we really have the whole outline of the building with the roof and the whole structure is framed in now.

So a lot of exciting things going on.

>> Yeah, I can tell.

So.

And that's only on the outside.

There's a lot of things going on on the inside as well.

Right?

>> Correct.

Yeah.

We've got all the door frames set.

We were starting all the interior framing and a lot of our mechanical, electrical and fire protection is going on inside the building for Ruffins as well.

>> Great.

So what's coming next over the next month or so?

>> Sure is we continue with our our construction.

We'll be going around the building clockwise, going to the south.

We'll continue with our cast stone, our brick, our window system.

We'll be doing eifs and also the composite shingles up on the roof.

On the inside.

We'll continue doing all our mechanical, electrical, plumbing rough in and keep framing walls.

So a lot of exciting stuff.

>> Yeah, lots of changes.

>> Yes.

>> Lots more to come back to you in the studio.

>> Thanks, Jeff.

If you want to learn more about the Tedrick Welcome Center and how it will benefit students and alumni, head over to SIU >> Three.

Two one.

Hey.

Hey.

This.

>> The new fountain at Campus Lake is up and running.

What an incredible sight to see.

The community gathered to celebrate at Becker Pavilion.

And dedicate the fountain to the late Tilden Tim Parks.

Mr. parks was a Saluki alumnus whose generosity helped make this fountain possible, alongside a significant gift from the AlZaben family and support from hundreds of other donors.

The fountain has a 60 foot water spout and lights up at night.

I spoke with the crews who installed this fountain and they tell me it's one of the most unique projects they have ever worked on.

We want to give a huge thank you to the amazing staff at Facilities and Energy Management for all of the work they did to install this fountain.

If you want to learn more about it, head over to e and look for this story.

The Campus Lake Fountain was installed just in time for the fall semester.

Thousands of students have moved in and started their Saluki Adventure.

This comes after a successful summer semester here on campus that saw a 5% increase in enrollment over last year.

That's the sixth semester in a row enrollment has increased here at .

If you like to shop online and support Saluki Nation, there's a new way to do both at the same time.

The Alumni Association has launched an online marketplace featuring dozens of products from Saluki business owners.

Alumni Association Executive Director Molly Hudgins has more on how it works.

>> The Alumni Association is excited to introduce the Saluki Market.

The Saluki Market is an e-commerce website developed by the Alumni Association to showcase products from entrepreneurial Salukis.

Think of an Etsy like platform where all the vendors are alumni and friends of the university.

Our message is shop first.

I'm here today with one of our first vendors on the Saluki market, Michelle Searles.

Michelle and her husband, Wayne, own Rendleman Orchards.

Tell us a little bit about the sense of community for Randleman's Orchard, your connection to and and what it means to be a part of the Saluki Market.

Well, just.

>> Being 20 minutes outside of Carbondale, we're lucky to be in the backyard of campus.

So we've always had alumni come in and visit us when they're back for homecoming and various events, but now we can ship items directly to them, and that's going to be a really wonderful opportunity for us to stay connected with all the alumni.

>> What a great Saluki story.

The Saluki Market is going to host a wide variety of products that will showcase such a great number of Saluki vendors.

Let's go to another vendor now!

From Peaches to Apparel.

I'm here today in Carterville, Illinois at Eccentrics Boutique with Laura and Craig.

Lauren is an alum, and Lauren, talk to us a little bit about what it means to be part of the Saluki Market and this great network that is Saluki Nation.

So I'm super excited to be part of the Saluki Market.

Um, I think it's going to be able to be a way to connect with fellow Salukis and provide community and a way to showcase, like, what we have to offer here at the store.

Absolutely.

We really appreciate all of our vendors who joined us today.

Remember to shop first.

Go to.

>> The Foundation Board of Directors has a new president.

Alumnus Dan Korte will serve in the role for the next two years.

Dan graduated from in 1981 and most recently served as the global vice president of aerospace at PPG Industries in Trenton, Illinois.

Dan and his wife, Dawn Korte, have long been supporters of our mission at the Foundation.

We spoke with Dan about what motivates him to give back and stay involved.

>> This university means so much to me.

I came here back in 1978 and literally it was the day before classes started here at .

I decided I'm going to go.

And so here I am.

And it changed the whole trajectory of my life.

Why do I spend so much time here trying to help the next generation?

It's because when I walk on this campus, I see that exact same look in the student's eyes that I had all those years ago.

That hunger, that desire to.

To learn and grow.

I mean, taught me so much.

I've got the next two years as president of the foundation, and there's a lot of exciting things going on that I just want to help in some small way with.

Of course, the construction that's going on here on campus, the continued growth, the new campus master plan, capital plan that's being put together right now.

I mean, the foundation is really an accelerator for all those things.

How can we a lot of those, we can't pull them off.

We need the whole university to to drive these big initiatives.

But sometimes we can be that little catalyst to get things going.

I want to help be that little catalyst over the next couple of years.

>> We look forward to Dan's term as president and to all of the amazing things happening in Saluki Nation.

alumnus Ken Parks.

His passion for music took him around the world, playing percussion for artists like Barry Manilow and Donna Summer.

Park recently returned to campus, donating $100,000 worth of instruments to the School of Music, including everything from drums to a gong.

Through all of his success, he never forgot where it all started.

>> Southern Illinois is where I learned how to play, and my parents allowed that to happen, and the teachers here at gave me a shot to practice.

So that's the part that I'm grateful for and I hope the kids love these instruments.

There's South America, you know.

I mean, there's all this stuff here.

You know, they can play different cultures.

>> Learn more about Ken's career and his passion for music at siuf.org Coming up, we're going behind the scenes of Saluki Athletics.

e Foundation CEO Matt Kupec sits down with Director of Athletics Tim Leonard to talk about the upcoming football season, and quarterback DJ Williams shows us how he gets game ready.

Stay with us.

>> Salukis.

This is more than a milestone.

It's a movement celebrating its 10th year, the day, of giving calls upon Salukis everywhere to give back.

On September 17th.

Be a part of something powerful.

We are a research one university at the peak of innovation and discovery.

We are also an opportunity university, opening doors and helping all students succeed.

Less than 1% of universities hold both honours.

We are one of 21 and you are one of the difference makers.

>> Welcome back to the Impact Report.

I'm Matt Kupec, CEO of the SIU Foundation, and we're thrilled to have us with us today.

Tim Leonard, Director of Athletics Tim, welcome.

A lot going on with this unleashed tour.

>> Yes, thanks.

Thanks, Matt.

Thanks for having me.

The Coaches Unleashed tour is what we're calling it, and we're going all over the world.

And we started right here in Carterville.

And we've gone to to Marion, we've been to Duquoin, we've been to Murphysboro.

And, um, it's been a lot of fun.

I mean, each one seems to be growing, um, each stop, we've had at least one visit that made the whole, uh, stop worth it.

And, uh, it's just been a lot of fun.

And as we say, you know, we want the community to be engaged with us.

But if they want to be engaged with us, we have to be engaged with them.

So we're trying to get out as much as we can.

We've got a few more stops we're going to make.

We're going to be up in Pinckneyville, and then we're going to go down to Metropolis.

And, you know, I think the especially after the Murphysboro one, which had so much energy and excitement in the room, great crowd.

Um, I think we want to keep doing this.

Just keep as much as we can and keep getting out there.

>> It's a great idea.

We had a chance to catch up with some of the coaches at the Walker Bluff event.

So let's take a look at that interview.

>> One of the things I was most excited about when I, when I came back to Illinois, was just being a part of a program that is a big fish in a small sea.

You know, people in southern Illinois love Salukis, and and that's excites me.

I like that I want people to expect a lot from us, and I think that they do.

>> As you kind of build toward the fall, things get really exciting.

Um, I've been in college athletics for a long, long time, and the fall is the most fun part where you get new people in, um, new coaches in.

We brought some players along.

They're always excited to see that, especially football.

>> You know, there behind the helmet and the shoulder pads and all of that.

So just getting to interact with the fans.

>> So exciting to hear from the coaches Tim, and just upcoming season, what are your thoughts?

>> Uh, well, my thoughts are that our expectations are high.

Um, and that's, you know, that's why I came here is because I wanted to be at a place that that wants to win, uh, that's passionate about winning.

And we certainly have that with our fan base.

And, you know, our coaches, they understand that.

They know the expectations are high.

And to the alumni of this university, and we have a responsibility to, to represent them.

Um, and we take that very seriously.

So, um, we're working hard.

I think this year we're really close.

I think we're going to turn the corner and be pretty good in a lot of sports.

>> Oh, appreciate your great leadership.

Certainly running the program, leading the program, bringing the coaches on.

Jahad and the players you mentioned previously, D.J.

Williams, who we think will be the best, one of the best, if not the best player at the FCS level.

And we recently had an opportunity to spend some time with DJ.

>> I'm here with DJ Williams, Saluki.

>> Quarterback.

>> And Meade Smith, our strength and conditioning coach and DJ.

How do you approach the weight room?

>> I just approach it every day with the same mindset of getting better.

It's something that you need to do when you're trying to get 1% better every day.

>> Show me what you might do to kind of get yourself going.

>> Getting into the workout.

We usually start with something explosive.

Today we're going to be doing like what we call a white race.

Okay, this is going to work.

Shoulder mobility but also scapular strength.

And we'll get some face pulls.

He's going to pull this like he's pulling the band into his eyebrows and get a little external rotation with the shoulders.

Okay.

>> That is really hard.

>> Pull your elbows down into your ribs.

>> Down all the way in.

There you go.

Yeah.

You are pulling back here.

Whew.

That feels moved back a little bit.

That feels.

That feels dangerous.

Yeah.

And just trying to go fast.

Yeah.

Try to keep that elbow.

Keep that.

>> Elbow behind.

>> There you go.

Yeah.

Good.

There we go.

All right.

>> Good.

You're a natural.

>> We head from the weight room to the film room, where coach Nick Hill is ready to talk football with me and his star quarterback.

>> Jake is.

>> Pretty special.

Obviously, his talent is, uh, speaks for itself, but just being able to work with him, you know, and just as his personality and his work ethic, the first way to teach is you got to put it on the board.

They're going to be in the position meeting room.

So you're going to be able to draw up the plays on paper.

That's the start.

You know, one of our, uh, staple pass plays, we call it Rattler.

So that's the play.

When you first put in a play, we're going to say the personnel is JJ's job to come to the line of scrimmage.

Uh, and the first thing he's going to tell the offensive line is what protection we're going to run on that play.

>> How much studying does it take to be the quarterback of a team with an offensive set like this?

>> Uh, it takes a lot of studying when you first get into it, but like then plays like this come second nature.

>> As a coach, you want to you want to call plays that have answers no matter what the defense does.

>> Are there moments in the game where the coaches called to play?

Snap comes, nobody's open.

When do you make that decision?

You're like, I got to go.

>> It's usually every quarterback has like this time ticking in their head like every you know, you know when it's time to get out of there.

>> But this all happens in about three seconds, right.

This has happened in fast and it's happened even faster.

Game speed.

>> Everything has to feel like a game, like day in and day out.

Practice should be harder than a game.

>> After meeting with Coach Hill, DJ takes me to the fueling station where student athletes get the nutrition they require and introduces me to Alexandro Flores.

>> So we have a lot of variety from everything we do.

We don't just offer just a quick snacks, we customize everything to their preference so we can make shakes from like lean, maintain and gain.

And for DJs you know needs right now a maintain to make sure that he stays lean and mean.

You know.

>> How important is nutrition to a high level athlete?

>> Oh, it's very important because, uh, what you eat and what you put in your body determines how your day gonna go.

>> We make a quick stop in the locker room to grab a ball, and then I get to live out every young SIU fan's dream with a game of catch down on the field in Saluki Stadium.

What's your favorite thing about being a Saluki?

>> Uh, just the fans that come out and support every game.

Uh, being a being just a blessing to the community as they are a blessing to me.

They gave me a new home when I needed one.

It's just good to be around these fans and just put on a show for them.

>> We're going to run a play here in a minute.

We're going to run the rattler that we learned about from Coach Hill.

>> Okay.

>> And now we're going to go back to the studio.

Matt Kupec.

>> What a great video.

of DJ Williams.

Truly one of a spectacular human being, one of the finest student athletes going to be in the country this year.

And I will tell you, Tim, my understanding, our colleague Jeff Wilson caught that was a one take reception.

He looked pretty good.

Might have to sign him up.

>> Yeah, Jeff looks pretty good.

But that throw looked that that oh yeah.

>> It's hard to drop that pass.

But anyway so you know seeing that and final thoughts on the upcoming season.

>> Well obviously optimism is always high this time of year.

But when you've got a special player like DJ Williams, um, you know, I just hope that the people in this region appreciate and understand the opportunity they have to come watch a special talent like that, because DJ is the real deal.

>> I've been around a lot of special quarterbacks and I tell you he's got the talent to be right up there.

So thank you Tim.

Good luck on the upcoming year and we're going to take a break.

>> Join us October 3rd and fourth for the fourth annual Saluki Women's Weekend, a two day celebration of connection, empowerment and Saluki Pride.

From leadership panels and mentorship to tailgates and networking socials, this weekend is for everyone who believes in the power of women supporting women.

Saluki Women's Weekend is an inclusive event open to all individuals.

Register today at e. And be part of something unforgettable.

[MUSIC] Welcome back and thanks for watching the Impact Report.

SIU is helping people with disabilities reach new heights.

The School of Aviation recently became home base for the Able Flight Program.

Able flight trains people with disabilities to become pilots, providing them with a unique way to overcome challenges.

Thanks to the generosity of donors, students can participate in this program for free.

The first team of five students to train at recently wrapped up their summer on campus and earned their wings.

Our team captured their inspiring stories.

[MUSIC] >> About flight is an aviation nonprofit, a scholarship organization that makes it possible for people with physical challenges, real physical disabilities to become licensed pilots this year in 2025.

One of the students that's training here at Southern Illinois will be our 100th pilot.

The training pathway for becoming a pilot is the same for our pilots as for anyone else with one big difference.

We use adapted aircraft, and the airplane behind me has been adapted with special controls for people that don't have the use of their legs.

>> I got shot three times.

I was completely paralyzed from the breast level down.

I was told I was never going to walk again.

When I think about being that close to losing my life, to flying a plane, I mean, somebody's looking out for me.

>> Ten and a half years ago, I was involved in a school shooting at FSU.

Florida State University.

I've always just been a very motivated person.

So when this was presented to me as an opportunity, I kind of just knew I had to jump on it.

>> The world doesn't adapt to you.

You always have to adapt to the world.

So it's really nice to have a program that is adapted to us.

's program with able flight is amazing.

Being up in the air, I have no cares.

>> I know getting into aviation isn't cheap.

It's not easy.

So having an organization like Able Flight available to help ease that burden, especially for disabled Americans, where it's going to be even harder to get into.

I think it's been fantastic.

>> With our program approaching its 20th year, we've seen a lot of people come through the program and we've seen the life changing experience, the transformation that comes with that, because you see yourself differently.

There are three of these adapted Vashon Ranger aircraft in the United States, and I'm happy to say that Able flights responsible for all three ones in private ownership, and these two which we raise the funds for now, belong to Southern Illinois University.

>> So the plane is it's like a sense of freedom.

>> It's it's very addictive in a in a good way because it's so challenging.

It's, uh, you have to learn so many things.

You have to keep up with so many things.

It becomes, yeah, a challenge, a personal challenge, a thing that fulfills your personal but also becomes important, like on a on a broader level, because.

>> A lot of society, you know, and disabled people are afraid to ask for you to make changes to things.

That would be very simple.

Able fly is catering to the idea All right.

We already accept your disabled.

And we have these aircraft that we've modified, and we think you can fly them.

>> When we started looking for what we like to think of as the forever home of able Flight.

We looked at a lot of different universities that could do a very good job of teaching flight, but we wanted a program that welcomed our students and made it feel like a home for our students, and that's what we found here.

>> We like to say good to great, do good things and do it great.

And that embodies what able flight does.

And it seemed like a perfect merger, a perfect partnership for us.

Their vision, the mission, the service really fits with what we stand for as an institution.

So we couldn't be more thrilled about this partnership.

>> This is truly incredible and freeing.

As someone who's confined to a wheelchair.

>> I'm no longer aligning with just one part of me in life or one career, one opportunity.

There's too many parts of me to explore.

There's too many things out there that I can explore.

Why limit myself?

>> Most of the able flight students came from out of state, but by the end of their summer at , they told us they'll always be Salukis able.

Flight recently announced a new initiative to establish a $1.5 million endowment through the Foundation to help support the program for the long term.

To learn more, look for this story at .

Coming up a moment from this month in history.

Plus Grey Dog is on the move.

What's he up to this time?

Stay with us.

[MUSIC] >> The Saluki Takeover tour is back.

Bigger, bolder and coast to coast.

Join us to connect, celebrate and show the world what it means to be a Saluki for life.

[MUSIC] See you there and go, dogs!

[MUSIC] >> Thank you for watching this edition of the Impact Report.

We'll wrap up the show with a fun fact from the history books, courtesy of our friends over at Morris Library Special Collections.

This story will get you revved up.

Check out these photos from August 1966, when more than 100 students rode their motorcycles through campus in the streets of Carbondale.

leaders had restricted the use of motorcycles on campus because of concerns about accidents and limited parking.

Our alumni know about that.

The students were not having it.

Historians say this represented a new phase of student activism at .

What a ride and to sign us off today.

Our beloved Saluki mascot.

Here's a moment with Gray Dog.

>> Thank you.

It's very generous of you.

She's one of our biggest supporters.

But there's no way we can cash this.

>> At least we know Gray Dog meant well.

Well, that wraps up this edition of the Impact Report.

You can find all of these stories and more at siuf.org Also, be sure to follow the Foundation on social media.

We'll air a new report once a month, and if you miss an episode, you can find it on the Foundation's YouTube channel.

Take care and we'll see you next time.

Go, dawgs!

[MUSIC]