[MUSIC] >> Coming up on the impact report this spring.

>> We're up in enrollment.

That's a big deal for us.

I.

[MUSIC] >> The Salukis take over Florida and Saint Louis.

Hundreds of alumni and friends came out to celebrate Saluki Pride Network and cheer on the Dawgs, plus a multi-million dollar global business that started inside an Siu dorm room.

Meet the Saluki, whose incredible life journey is inspiring so many others.

And this month in the lab.

>> I'm Jeff Gleim and we're here on Siu's campus in the engineering building.

Do you know what a supercomputer is?

Stay with me and find out.

>> But first, a major investment in the future of journalism and advertising at Siu.

>> The timing of this gift couldn't have been more perfect.

>> A $2.25 million estate gift will provide generations of Salukis with the experience they need to succeed.

The impact report starts right now.

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

I'm your host, Anna Twomey.

We have lots of exciting stories lined up for you today, starting with a transformative gift to the College of Arts and Media.

A $2.25 million estate gift from alumnus Roy Franke will support programming for the students at the Charlotte Thompson Suhler School of Journalism and Advertising.

This gift ranks among the largest private contributions in the school's history.

SIU Foundation Chief Marketing Officer, Britni Bateman is at the College of Arts and Media to speak with students and staff who are already making big plans for the future.

>> Students and faculty here at the Charlotte Thompson Suhler School of Journalism and Advertising are describing the shift from Roy Franke as life changing.

This large gift is going to sustain many hands on experiences for students within the school.

>> Because I feel like it's so important, especially in this current time we're living in, to have to have real truth, to have real journalism.

And I think that my generation can be that driving force.

>> Alex Deakin is one of the hard working, ambitious students.

Roy Frank's gift will inspire and support.

She's a junior who works on the River region reporting team.

>> As a student.

Hearing about that very generous donation, it makes me feel very grateful to be at a place that values its students like that.

And I think just the fact that an alumni was willing to give that shows that SIU really creates a lasting connection with you.

>> Roy Frank's gift will support nearly every program available to students in the Charlotte Thompson Suhler School of Journalism and advertising.

Funding will be used for equipment, travel and so much more.

>> When I first heard about this gift coming through, I fell off my chair because it was a surprise.

This gift is going to help the entire school.

We've got so many platforms.

We've got the Daily Egyptian, which is a century over a century years old.

We have old news, we have the ad lib, we have the weekend workshops, and we have the local Salukis reporting lab.

And most important, it's going to help us finally get river region off the ground, which has been dormant for over six years.

>> Oh, it's perfect timing.

We're in the process of building a news department and a newscast from the ground up, so it really couldn't have come at a better time.

>> Amid the excitement and inspiration, Roy Franke gift has generated the journalism and advertising.

Faculty and staff are grateful.

Roy Franke was a 1966 graduate of the College of Arts and Media and was originally from Centralia, Illinois.

>> We want to say thank you again and again to Mr.

Franke at the same time.

It's unfortunate we never got the chance to meet him in person, but he will definitely be remembered forever in the Schuler School and in the camp family.

>> We are so grateful to Roy Franke for his generosity.

It will have an impact on Salukis for generations to come.

Reporting from the College of Arts and Media.

I'm Britni Bateman.

>> Roy Frank's generous gift comes just months after the School of Journalism and Advertising was named after 1965 graduate Charlotte Thompson Suhler Thompson.

Suhler attended a naming ceremony last September honoring her gift to the school, which will also support labs and programming for students.

The Charlotte Thompson Suhler School of Journalism and Advertising is the first school at SIU to be named after a woman.

It's great to see so much good news over at the College of Arts and Media, thanks to the support of some amazing Salukis.

>> I travel the world all the time and I run into Salukis everywhere.

I mean, I never thought 30 years ago when I left her that I'd be driving back here today to have this type of opportunity to give back to the to the students.

>> We have internships.

We have locations around the world to be needed.

The support.

>> Two successful Salukis in aviation visited campus to speak with students and tour the facilities at the Glenn Poshard Transportation Education Center.

Sal Marino and Jim Berberet are senior vice presidents at AAR, which is a company that provides aviation services to commercial and government customers worldwide.

This visit comes after AAR and S-I-U agreed to a formal partnership that will connect students with industry experts and real world learning experiences.

>> You know, I actually had kind of goosebumps coming here today because I haven't been back here in a long time.

The whole facility, I haven't seen the new facility here.

Facility is amazing.

Got a Tesla here between the educators that are here and the opportunities to fly these aircraft and do work on the airplanes.

Uh, you know, it's first class.

>> And it's fantastic to see the facility, see the agenda and so forth.

But talking to the students, talking to the faculty is important to talk to them about.

There's more to the business out there and what AR represents and it's great to share.

I mean, we're in a growing situation.

We want to continue to grow and we want to continue to add people.

And I know there's highly qualified people here.

>> As part of the partnership between SIU and AAR, students will gain access to internships, guest lectures and workshops led by AAR professionals.

Students in the College of Business and Analytics Supply Chain Management program will also have access to these opportunities.

It's great to see two proud Saluki alumni giving back by connecting their company with the university.

Learn more by heading over to SIUF.org.

>> SIU.

That's how you.

That's S-I-U.

>> A sea of maroon takes over St Louis.

Dozens of alumni came into town to watch Saluki basketball compete in the March Madness tournament as part of this takeover tour.

Students and staff at SIU visited Bayer Global to network and learn about ways Bayer and SIU can partner.

The Siu Foundation hosted a Chancellor's reception at Sports and Social St Louis, right across the street from Ballpark Village.

Chancellor Austin Lane highlighted some of the good news at S-I-U and networked with Saluki alumni from the region.

We had the chance to catch up with a few of those alumni who turned out.

>> What better place to be here than with all this excitement?

With all this buzz and all our friends from Saluki Nation, we.

>> Are having a great week.

He's right.

We are here in Saint Louis taking it over.

>> Go dawgs over 300 people tonight.

Coming to see what's going to happen for the weekend, for the basketball games and also hear from the Chancellor.

>> I would say it's important to kind of come out and connect with other alumni or other students who are in the same boat as you, because it goes to help build your network.

>> The Salukis also took over Florida this spring.

The SIU Foundation hosted events attended by hundreds of alumni in Saint Petersburg, Tampa and Naples.

>> Florida.

This is our last leg, so we got to have fun tonight.

>> Obviously, networking is a big part of life and especially for successful people, so I love to see fellow colleagues and people that are I went to school with that, understand that region because Florida is a different world.

>> I've been at many events where someone's introducing themselves as a graduate of a specific program a year, and you see someone's eyes light up going, I graduated at that same time I was on campus with you.

>> Sunshine State Salukis showed up in force.

The first takeover tour stop was in Saint Petersburg aboard the La Dolce Vita, a yacht owned by SIU alumnus James Jannestides, who offered to host fellow alumni.

The Salukis then moved on to downtown Tampa Bay, welcoming dozens of alumni to Jackson's Bistro right along the water.

This tour wrapped up in Naples with a gorgeous evening reception at the WindStar on Naples Bay.

The reception at the WindStar was generously hosted by Saluki alumnus Ali Dorn and his wife, Candi.

Chancellor Lane and his team made several stops at local schools to hand out scholarships to admitted students.

James Jannestides, one of our alumni hosts on this Florida takeover tour, has a truly inspiring Saluki story.

He started what is now a global company while still a student at S-I-U.

Jannestides is a 1989 College of Business and Analytics graduate who came to SIU with a lot of ideas and a lot of hustle.

He's the founder of University Loft Company, a leading designer and manufacturer of sustainable student housing furniture based in Indianapolis.

This big idea started right here at Siu.

The inspiration for his company came to him from inside Abbot Hall at Thompson Point, when Jannestides developed a loft bed design to create more space in his dorm.

The idea absolutely took off on campus.

Jannestides was filling hundreds of orders for fellow students.

He patented his idea and built University Loft Company, which has now served more than 1200 colleges and universities across the country.

>> And I ran into my first warehouse down in Carbondale, off the strip.

I took a little ad out in the Daily Egyptian, a one page ad, you know, get your loft.

At that time, Bart Simpson had just come out the cartoon and I was like, I had a little picture of Bart in the car.

I didn't know copyright or anything like that.

And I had the Kinko's do the, you know, the printer flyers Sold out.

Completely sold out.

100%.

First day.

It was just a kid just bumping his way through success.

I did not choose furniture.

Furniture chose me.

I didn't choose SIU.

SIU chose me.

>> Such an incredible story.

Jannestides grew up with severe dyslexia, and he tells us SIU was one of the few universities who welcomed him and offered programs for students with learning disabilities.

His success set such a great example for Salukis.

>> Deaconess.

Go dog, go dog.

Alright.

>> SIU and Deaconess Illinois are partnering up to support students and improve health care across the Southern Illinois region.

Siu Chancellor Austin Lane and Deaconess Illinois President Will Davis signed several agreements establishing the Deaconess Illinois Scholars Program, the Deaconess Illinois Serenity Room and the Deaconess Illinois Wellness Suite.

Through these investments, health and Human sciences students will have access to wellness resources, tuition support and professional development.

Deaconess Illinois will have access to a much needed talent pipeline that will help provide the Southern Illinois region with the best healthcare possible.

>> Our students here in this region are going to benefit greatly from this partnership today.

Do you have to have something to offer?

You can't just say come to SIU and have nothing behind it.

So now you're talking about a pathway that these students will be on.

We're interested in health care.

They're interested in coming to an R1 university like southern.

>> No secret there is a shortage of health care workers.

And so as we think through that process of where do we get our workforce, it was a no brainer.

Southern Illinois University, Carbondale has an awesome program, health and science program over there.

>> The Deaconess Illinois Serenity Room will be located inside Mayasmith Hall and will feature specialized stress management equipment for students.

Deaconess has also sponsored a wellness suite inside the Community Care and Education Center that will offer health resources to the entire Southern Illinois community.

Great food, great conversation, and great company.

The Siu Alumni Association is serving up some awesome Saluki connections by hosting the annual dinner with 12 event.

The dinner with 12 concept is simple but powerful.

Saluki alumni volunteer to take a group of up to 12 students out to dinner in the Carbondale area.

Each host becomes a valuable connection and a mentor to the students who attend.

Siu Foundation Chief Marketing Officer Britni Bateman participated, hosting a lively table of students at Tai.

Taste.

The Siu Alumni Association organizes this event every year in the spring.

To learn more or get involved, head over to SIUalumni.com.

The Siu School of Medicine just wrapped up a very successful day of giving campaign fundraising nearly $650,000.

That total amount raised is more than 20% higher than the total raised in 2025.

Top areas of support during this year's Day of Giving included medical student scholarships and resources, the Smith Alzheimer's Center, Emergency Medicine, and the Simmons Cancer Institute.

A huge thank you to the alumni and friends who made this happen.

Siu's International Festival was a huge hit this year.

This long standing Saluki tradition attracts not only students and staff, but the entire Southern Illinois community.

The theme this year was threads of the world Weaving Cultures together.

The week long festival kicked off with the beloved parade of flags through campus.

Salukis continued the celebration with the International Food Festival, which features cuisines from all over the world.

The international festival wrapped up with a cultural show and opportunities for students to learn about study abroad programs.

Coming up, a rare tour inside the supercomputer control Center tucked away inside the engineering building at SIU.

This machine is critical to the research operations of hundreds of students.

Stay tuned.

[MUSIC] >> The Siu Alumni Association is proud to announce that the Saluki market is officially open.

This e-commerce platform powered by Shopify, showcases the products and stories of entrepreneurs who are alumni, students, and friends of Siu.

Browse and purchase hundreds of items offered by your fellow Salukis.

Best of all, a portion of each sale goes to support scholarships and programs for current students.

Shop SIU first by visiting WW Market.com.

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

Imagine a place on Siu's campus where the level of research is so complex, the most powerful type of computer in the world is needed to keep projects in progress inside the College of Engineering, computing, Technology and Mathematics.

You'll find the supercomputer designed to perform quadrillions of calculations in seconds.

The supercomputer is a key part of what enables Southern Illinois University to maintain a research won status, a designation given to universities with very high research activity and spending.

On top of that, students and staff use renewable energy to help power the supercomputer and surrounding labs.

So how does that interconnected system work and why is it important?

SIU Foundation Chief Operating Officer Jeff Gleim heads into the lab to find out.

>> So I'm here on Siu's campus in the in the College of Engineering building here, and with me is the dean of the College of Engineering, computing, Technology and Mathematics, Frank Liu.

>> Yeah.

We're going to showcase two facilities in the School of electrical, computer and biomedical engineering.

One is we call the renewable microgrid.

The idea is we collect the solar energy using solar panels and then put the energy in storage.

And another facility we're going to show case is the high performance computing complex.

>> So why don't we go take a look?

Sure.

Thank you.

Hey, Justin.

>> How are you doing?

>> Doing well.

Doing well.

>> What is a supercomputer in regards to what we're here for?

>> Yeah.

So what it is a supercomputer is a just a series of little brains, kind of, if you think about it like ants.

You have this whole situation where a single ant can't really do much work by itself.

But once you put 100 ants together, now you're able to move mountains.

This has over 500 CPU effective CPU cores.

It's a very impressive machine, and each one of those little cores solves a little bit of that math problem.

>> And the modes that you were talking about are inside.

>> Each one of.

>> These, these.

>> Multiple nodes in each one of these.

>> Okay.

So yeah.

>> And you can see that on the board out here of them being some of them working.

>> Lots of charts and numbers.

What does this mean?

>> So this is all system monitoring for a single single little bit of this in here.

>> What is this.

>> This is very similar to the board that we saw over there, which all of that is like system health of the supercomputer.

This is kind of system health of our PV panels right here.

Over here on the left you can see um power generation.

So on a day like today where it's nice and cool, sun's out, you get large amounts of power generation.

And then down here on the bottom right, you can see the loads and what our loads load is exactly what you think it is.

It is us.

It's whatever we're using.

>> I think we're going to take a look at maybe outside and talk a little bit about what we're looking at out there, and then talk a little bit about how all that works together.

>> So these are our PV panels.

They're here to generate power and they just generate power, send batteries, send to the next step, which is going to be the batteries.

This is our battery storage system.

So essentially it's just a lot of batteries in series.

They just store the saw the power before it gets released back to be able to be used.

>> Step three now is then back to the.

>> All of these rooms, all these rooms that we just kind of walked through and took a look at and saw where the students are studying, working and playing.

>> Why do we have all this?

>> A lot of our master's students and our PhD students are really working heavily on simulations.

That is pretty much driven primarily by our supercomputer.

You can't do them on these computers, so just take forever.

>> So we are in our one designated institution.

I'm assuming this plays a part.

>> Yeah.

Without without the supercomputer, without this room, a lot of our research wouldn't exist, and therefore the research money wouldn't exist and we would not have made R1 status.

>> Okay, so that brings everything together, right?

Okay.

Again, I want to thank you for your time and explaining all this to everybody, and I appreciate the knowledge and all the work that you guys do here.

So thank you.

Thank you.

And back to you in the studio, Anna.

>> What an incredible facility to learn about that supercomputer is responsible for supporting so many different student and faculty research projects, including studies in atmospheric science, geospatial modeling, and AI.

Coming up, the Salukis are taking over Southern Illinois and you're invited to tag along.

SIU Foundation CEO Matt Kupec interviews vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management Wendell Williams about how the admissions team is using these tours to recruit new students to SIU.

Stay tuned.

>> Southern Illinois University has a rich history and much more.

Renowned for cutting edge research ranking among the top 4% in the country.

Salukis achieve pride and glory competing at the highest level.

World famous alumni across the globe united in our mission with unstoppable momentum igniting a bright future.

This is a university ascending.

We are southern.

>> Welcome back and thanks for watching the Impact Report.

I'm Matt Kupec, CEO of the SIU Foundation, Southern Illinois.

Get ready.

We've got several exciting takeover tour stops happening soon in cities across the region, from Makanda to Herrin to Gorevill.

Salukis will be out in full force.

We're expecting to welcome hundreds of alumni to our evening events, while Chancellor Austin Lane and his missions team visits dozens of high schools with the hope of recruiting future Salukis.

Joining me now is vice chancellor for enrollment management Wendell Williams.

Wendell and his team will play a major role in the Saluki takeover.

Wendell, welcome and tell us about the takeovers in southern Illinois.

>> Thank you Matt.

It's such a great opportunity to get a chance to get away from the office, to get out into the schools, to get out and touch the hands of students, potential students, students who are interested.

Uh, we've done the takeover tours for a number of years, but here in Southern Illinois, we really focus in the last three years of trying to make sure that we get to every school.

>> I love the idea.

We are Southern Illinois University, and we're taking the university on the road locally here, not to take for granted the local region.

Tell us about the impact of these tools.

>> Well, any good enrollment manager will know that about 60% of your total enrollment base is going to come from within 50 to 60 miles from where you're stationed.

And so knowing that we have to focus on Southern Illinois, not just with getting the message out there, but getting the resources out there, getting the knowledge that we're not only a a great institution, but we're in our one institution.

But not only that, we're just an R1 institution, but we're an R1 institution that provides opportunity to make sure that we take them where they are.

Make sure that they're successful while they're here, get great jobs and change their whole lifestyle.

And that message sails in Southern Illinois.

>> It really does.

And such energy at these events.

So let's go take a look, Wendell, at some of the activity from last year's Southern Illinois Takeover tour.

>> Seeing SIU show up in our community and really celebrating that Saluki pride that we have felt for so long is just really important.

>> It's absolutely essential.

I think that, uh, not to not to name names, but I think that Austin Lane has done most of this.

His biggest thing he does that no one else has done since he before he got here is he goes to the high schools, he recruits personal.

>> Salukis takeover event to me is really a fabulous event.

I love seeing the Sea of Maroon.

I love seeing alumni of all ages reconnecting and telling their stories.

The thread that connects all of these people throughout Southern Illinois is so important.

>> What incredible energy from those takeovers last year.

Wendell can't wait to get back on the road in a couple of weeks.

Uh, you know, even before that, we will be up in Peoria and in Springfield, uh, prior to the Southern Illinois takeover in, uh, we're looking forward to going through central Illinois.

But just final message about these takeovers and in particular about the Southern Illinois takeover.

>> I think the takeovers mean a lot to students.

Uh, it means a lot to us, but I think it means a lot to students.

You know, we've got a number of different campaigns.

We have the Say Yes campaign where the high schools participate by sending us the names of students who are eligible to enroll with us, and we reach out to them.

No more having to buy Act scores and those things.

We have the Salukis start program, where students are able to get free courses in online classes for students who are 3.0 or higher, who are juniors and seniors.

But this takeover really makes a difference.

>> Wow.

Wendell.

Thank you brother.

>> Thank you.

>> Incredible stuff you and your staff do.

Uh, calling out to the Salukis takeovers.

It's just an incredible, incredible evening of spectacular.

All SIU and all Salukis.

So thank you, Wendell.

>> We always say go dawgs, but now we're saying come Dawgs.

>> Come Dawgs.

There we go.

>> Wendell.

We'll be back after a short break.

[MUSIC] >> Hotel accommodations.

[MUSIC] Did you get the chance to.

[MUSIC] Experience this once in a lifetime opportunity.

For fellow Salukis SIUalumni.com travel.

>> Welcome back and thanks for watching the Impact Report as we wrap up the show.

Let's check out a moment from this month in MCU history, courtesy of our friends over at Morris Library Special Collections.

This one's a fun trip down memory lane for many of our 1970s Salukis.

You're seeing photos from a streak in SIU students held on campus in March of 1974.

Dozens of students participated in what had become a nationwide craze that saw people take off their clothes and run through public spaces.

At the time, the Daily Egyptian provided extensive coverage of the phenomena.

These streak ins would involve a wide range of antics, including skinny dipping in the pond by Morris Library, gymnastics tricks and more.

Never a dull moment at SIU, especially in the 70s.

Now let's check in with our beloved mascot Grey Dawg, who also seems to never have a dull moment.

>> Huh?

>> I never thought of him as much of a reader.

I think everyone just has to find something that interests them.

I don't think he's going to like that one.

>> Not the most light hearted reading for Grey Dawg there, but he'll recover.

We'll end this show with a little piece of good Salukis news that's making a big splash at the rec center.

The newest poolside attraction at the SIU Rec Center is a huge hit.

Check out the Aqua zip line.

A few kids have already had the chance to dive right into it.

These photos and video were taken from a ribbon cutting ceremony in late February.

This new addition to the rec center pool was made possible by a generous gift from doctors Jared and Mary Ann Dohrn, who are both passionate Saluki alumni and have supported the university for many years.

They're also routine visitors to the rec center.

A huge thank you to the Dawn family.

That zip line is going to make so many rec members smile.

Thank you so much for watching the Impact Report.

You can find all of these stories and more at SIUF.org.

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

Take care and we'll see you next month.

Go, Dawgs!