There you go. As soon as everyone has taken their seats, we're going to get this awesome celebration started.
I believe everyone is in their seat, and we're going to get going.
I'm excited. I don't know about you all. Are you excited? Even though it's raining, it's a good day to be celebrating.
My name is Janice R. Thomas. I'm here to welcome you to the official groundbreaking ceremony for the 95th Street Chicago State University Construction Project.
Let's give a hand just for that introduction right there alone.
As many of you know, this work is part of a larger effort to upgrade and make accessible stations in our Metro electric system on the south side and the south suburbs.
For this particular project, another goal is to be more integrated with our station, that integration with the station and the university, so that Metro and Chicago State can both make each other stronger.
We are excited and happy to be sharing the podium today with all the federal, state, and local partners who helped make this day possible with their support and their funding, our combination of both.
Hand for that, because you've got to have money to do these projects.
I will be the first, but not the last, representative of METRA to express our gratitude to them for working with us to move this project forward.
So from all of us at Metro, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Now, give us a hand.
And I also would be remiss if I didn't take a moment to brag.
Chicago State produces good outcomes, and I am an example of that.
I still have my college ID from 1997 when I graduated.
I'm excited. That's why I got all my green and white. I'm representing. All right. Now, watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. So let me do what I was tasked to do is introduce what I would say. And I don't say things I don't mean. So, you know, that I don't say things to earn brownie points. I believe in saying what's true. Jim Dewinsky is a great CEO. Give him a hand for being a great CEO. He's a great CEO of Metro.
And he understood the importance of the request, the importance of the assignment to move this project forward.
And from day one, since he has been the CEO and this project came to mind when President Scott came to METRA to really share her passion and enthusiasm to see this become a reality,
Jim has been dedicated to that task.
So I bring you now the awesome CEO of METRA, Jim Dawinski.
Well, thank you, and Janice, can you pump up the energy a little bit more?
Her office is right down the hall from mine.
Can you imagine?
On behalf of our board, and today we have our vice chair, Paul Ruffin here,
and Ken Kaler, all the way from McHenry County, supporting this project,
the entire board and the entire staff of METRA thanks you for being here.
This project is an incredible transformation.
You know, as I took the time to look at the 95th Street corridor improvement, we are right on almost the eastern cusp of this.
But this is going to become the center.
And the reason I say that is because where transportation goes, that's where people flow.
And this particular project is going to pull all the modes of transportation together much tighter than they exist today.
Yes, you can walk to pace and we can get to CTA, but this is going to pull them so tight together
that this is going to become what I like to call a transit hub.
And I'm very excited about transportation.
As I sit here today, I was thinking, we're in a piece of history.
They laid rail here.
This was a rail yard in 1862.
The mid-1960s, they picked up that work and they shoved it down into Markham, Illinois.
And then this became available.
And I don't believe the people in the 1960s that eventually purchased this,
Chicago State University and this beautiful campus here possibly ever envisioned what this is going
to be. This is going to be a crown jewel on the corner of this campus. I can't wait to see it
happen. We can't keep the station open during the construction. Over 200 trains operate here every
single day. One will come by in a few minutes. We've got the freight right next to us. It's a
complicated project, but this is transformational. Right there in those trees, they'll be gone.
There's going to be a tunnel that directly connects the campus right to the center of the main lines.
And so, again, compared to the other stations on this district, this one is going to be transformational.
I really can't wait to turn the dirt over, but Janice said today's a celebration.
It's going to be nothing like the day we come here and finally cut the ribbon, get that first revenue train in here,
and I sure hope, President Scott, you'll be on that train.
So with that, I'd like to turn it back over to Janice, or do you want me to turn it right over to Paul?
I want to help Janice because she helps me all the time.
With that, I'd like to introduce Paul Ruffin, who represents METRA on the south side,
south suburbs of Cook County.
So with that, Vice Chair, Paul Ruffin.
Thank you, Jim.
Appreciate it.
As you can see, Janice controls all of us, so blessed are the brief.
I am honored and pleased to be here today on behalf of Chairman Jim McMahon,
who could not be here.
Thank you very, very much for having us.
Welcome to all of our guests, to our invited guests.
President Scott, thank you for having us.
To all our invited guests and to our elected officials, thank you very, very much.
Let me add my voice to all the others on behalf of METRA and its riders.
Thank you for your support.
Our riders demand and deserve clean, safe, comfortable, inviting, and accessible stations,
and you are all helping us meet those expectations.
We know we still have much, much work to do, but with so many stakeholders on our side,
We have made significant progress in recent years to upgrade our stations and the rider experience.
One of the highlights of being on the Metro Board is attending events just like this,
where we begin to see the tangible benefits of the decisions we make back at our Metro headquarters
and get to shake hands with all of our federal, state, county, city, university, and transit partners.
And even better, highlight when we will cut the ribbon and newly renovated 95th Street,
Chicago State University Station
say that three times fast
I look forward to seeing you all again on that day
so on behalf of everyone at METRA
thank you very much for being here
and we're looking forward to better things to come
absolutely
thank you to our CEO Jim and our Vice Chair
Ruffin for those awesome comments. Now I would like to bring up Kurt Dillard. He's the chair
of the Regional Transportation Authority, also known as the RTA. Please give him a hand
as he comes to the podium. Thank you, Janice. Thank you, Janice. It is an honor to be here
today. Like Janice, I deliberately got up this morning because I was with Z. Scott last
night and reminded of this great ceremony, and I put on my cougar green today, too. I
I go back a long way with this campus.
I, when I was in college, was the student member of the Board of Trustees of the Board of Governors of State Colleges and Universities,
of which Chicago State was a member.
And I go back to President Ben Alexander when Chicago State was essentially a warehouse.
So it's come a long way, Madam President and Andrea.
And this is a great, great, great institution.
When I first got to the RTA, I came down here to talk to Z about something else.
And she said, hey, do you know there's a station out here?
And I said, yeah.
She goes, you know, it's just kind of a wooden platform whistle-stop station.
And I said, what are we, in rural Nebraska?
And she goes, no, it's a whistle-stop station.
So as you know, she is a great leader, very persuasive, and that's why we're here today, thanks to her.
and you also have a tremendous board chairman in Andrea.
You could not have two better leaders for what I believe is a critical institution for Chicagoland.
Mayor, it's great to see you here.
It's always an honor to be with you.
I know you're a West Sider, but 95th Street on the south side, to me, is just a critical corner.
We have our new beautiful, and I did two or three ceremonies with your predecessors on the 95th Street stop right down the way for the CTA.
What a crowning, beautiful way to see our city if you're coming in from the south.
And that station down the street really looks like an airport, not a CTA stop.
So this is critical.
I've been a metro rider for more than 40 years.
I took it to college, and I wrote it almost every day in my professional career and still write it to my day job downtown Chicago.
I'd be remiss today.
This is a capital or infrastructure improvement, a great day, but I need to remind folks, and Senator Sims is here.
He gets it.
My friends in the legislature get it.
I look at my former Senate President, Emil Jones Jr.'s Convocation Center here.
So those legislators get it.
But we are facing a fiscal cliff in operations for the transit system of metropolitan Chicago.
We move 1.2 million riders a day.
That is one-sixth of the population of the state of Illinois.
People in Pinckneyville and Peoria have a great stake in making that system remain strong.
We produce, as a region, through mass transit, an extra $2.5 billion a year
in economic activity for the state of Illinois, which LG Sims knows very, very well.
So everyone, whether you're in Carbondale or Chicago, has a stake in keeping this system strong.
We have a big fiscal hole or fiscal cliff.
If we do not close that cliff by the end of the year,
we are looking at 40% reductions in service to the CTA, Metro, and PACE.
Madam President, I want trains to actually operate at this beautiful new station.
So if you see anyone out there who's a member of the legislature,
and the choir is here, they get it.
but you need to remind them we must must fill the fiscal cliff of the rta and cta metro and pace
so we maintain a vibrant vibrant system and even if you don't take it you don't want to be stuck
on the dan ryan when we put another million people a day out there it would be absolute gridwalk on
our highways and last but not least i always remind jim derwinski that without metro we would
We need another 34 lanes of highways on Chicago's expressway.
We don't have the room for it, nor do we have the money to do it.
Metro really is the way to fly, as I say,
and we need to fly to Springfield to get that billion and a half dollars.
We need to not only make this system whole again, but to improve it.
More frequent service, safer service, cleaner service.
So I know I'm preaching to the choir out there,
but any elected official you see say, you've got to fill the fiscal cliff hole.
It's an honor to be here, Madam President.
Andrea on your campus and to my friends at Metra, you do a great job every day.
It's much appreciated. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Chairman Dillard. I was going to tell him he didn't need to do his sermonette at this moment
because we do have someone that's going to come up and give us some words of encouragement shortly.
But thank you for those statements and comments of truth.
So now I would like to bring up Andrea Zopp.
She's the chair of the Chicago State University Board of Trustees.
Give her a hand.
Thank you, and good morning.
I am as chair of the board.
Thank you, Mayor.
You can tell a teacher when you see one knows how to respond.
I am as chair of the Board of Trustees of Chicago State University.
First of all, I'm thrilled to welcome those of you who haven't been on our campus,
are visiting our campus today, to welcome you here.
It is a beautiful campus, and we are excited about it.
We are excited about what is happening here,
including the groundbreaking for this incredible investment that is happening here.
This investment is more than just a transportation project.
This is an example of two very important Ps.
The first one is persistence.
the persistence of a strong and committed leader like President Z. Scott.
The members of the Metro team will tell you that she has been raising
and talking about this project since almost her first day on this campus
because she understands the importance of this investment
in what we're trying to show our students and our community,
and that is that they are worthy.
They are worthy of investment.
They are worthy of the incredible station that they are going to get.
They are worthy of being treated with having that opportunity to get here easily,
to get here safely, and to get here with something that is a model for the community.
And she was persistent.
But the other P is partnership, because this would not have happened without the partnership of METRA
and not with the partnership of all of the elected officials that you see here.
All of them came together to help us understand and explain why this was so important to Chicago State, but also to this community.
This station is going to be an important part of the economic development that we are trying to drive through Chicago State for this community and this street that you see in front of us on 95th Street between the CTA station and this metro station.
We are driving change and creating opportunity, not just for our students, but for our residents.
And it would not have happened without the partnership of all of the people that you see here and without the persistence of President Zistat.
So thank you. Welcome. This is an exciting day, and we are thrilled to be here. Thank you.
Thank you for those comments. I am extra excited to bring up the next speaker.
She needs no introduction, but if you have ever met her, encountered her, her enthusiasm, her directness,
her no-nonsenseness, her commitment to holding you accountable and making sure that it happens is real.
She is the president of this campus, and I would like to also say that when I was a student here,
I was on welfare, public assistance, and some of the things that are planned for this campus,
Those would have been nice if they would have had them as a single mom with two kids living with relatives and trying to figure it out.
I remember when they built the dorms and they built the last building, I was on my way out.
But I'm just excited to see what's happening here.
And I want to send a message that this campus in the neighborhood produce good output, people that go on and do things in life.
And this was not a part of the program.
But if I don't say it, it won't get said.
And you have to share your story because sometimes people see the glory, but they don't know what you went through to get there.
As a single mom on welfare, working through college to be the first woman of color in a position of authority and decision making at Metro is historical.
And I take all that back to my roots.
And Chicago State did a lot for me coming from the backwoods of Evergreen, Alabama, coming to college, graduating college and just moving on through life.
So I just wanted to share that. And President Scott, I want to say we may not have always agreed on the approach.
We not always agreed on the process. We may not have liked each other a little bit along the way.
But at the end of the day, we are committed to doing what we're doing.
And this is why we're here today. So I want to bring you up in your own way and be you.
So people have said a few things about me, and they're all true.
Yes, first of all, I want to thank each of you for being here today.
This is a historic day for Chicago State, and as our chair mentioned,
this could not have happened without a lot of partnerships.
I recall having a conversation with my team about the Metro stop and the disrepair
and what it meant as it reflected on our brand as an institution.
Because the goal for Chicago State was a brand of transformation
and making sure that our community had access to a college degree.
And I went to that METRA board meeting, and some of you have heard about the board meeting I attended.
I had pictures, and I wanted to share with them the experience our students were having with this station.
and there was a willing audience and janice came to me afterwards and she said i told them
that you were the new president and that you were not going away and so that was the but
partnership became part of the process we didn't just start talking about it we entered into a
memorandum of understanding not just for chicago state but for this community and how together we
would drive transformation this rail station and let me tell you it took everybody everybody's
had a hand in this thank you senator sims and stanley and commissioner moore thank you to the
federal government for the funding that they supplied us thank you for metro for bringing
so many talented planners and architects who worked on this station and thank you to michael
Holmes for being a big driver, and thank you to Erin Stevenson and her team for being in the
background pushing all the way. And if you are a member of the team of our staff of Chicago State,
please stand right now. So thank you for being here today and really recognizing that this
is a momentous occasion for Chicago State. We're living in, I think, a tough time right now.
There's a lot of complexity coming from the federal government that leaves us uneasy about what will be the future of our country and the future of our state.
But I want to tell you one thing.
Events like this should give us all hope.
Hope that the people who are engaged in the work of the people will continue to care about the people.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you, President Scott.
I also would like to acknowledge representatives from Senator Duckworth's office, Jess Sewell.
Hi.
Representative from Senator Durbin's office, Kristen Hereto.
They would have loved to have been here, but I believe they're in session in Washington doing the people's work.
So we appreciate them for sending you here to show your support of this project.
Now, we're going to pause here, and we're going to have, I don't know, in church.
I'm the daughter of a Baptist preacher, if you haven't figured that out yet.
We're going to do what we say in church.
We're going to bring Reverend Titus Bryant.
He's the youth pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ.
And he just asked me, are we going to have a prayer on there?
And I said, you know what, pastor?
I'm going to just introduce you, and I'm going to say I'm going to bring you up in your own way.
So I don't know what he intends to say or do, but we're going to say, as we say in church, just let the Lord use you.
Now, remember, though, we got a time constraint, though.
It's hard to tell a Baptist preacher, especially from the South, born and raised in Houston, Texas, that we have a time constraint.
But I'll honor that today.
This is truly the day that the Lord has made, and we would be ashamed not to rejoice and be glad in it.
Family, I am Reverend Titus Bryant, associate pastor to youth, social justice and young adults.
there at Trinity United Church of Christ, and I bring you greetings from Pastor Otis Moss III,
who is the pastor of the greatest church on what we like to say this side of the Jordan.
And so it is my privilege to stand simply because he could not make it, but I am honored to be before you.
I heard Mr. Jim Dewinsky say something.
Something that struck with me, he said that when transportation flows, community grows.
I like that a lot.
When transportation flows, community grows, because it reminds me of the philosophy of many of our West African ancestors who operated on this philosophy entitled Ubuntu.
Some of us have heard it. Others may have not.
Ubuntu, Ubuntu. It says that I am because we are. It says that I belong because all of us exist.
And it reminds me all of the creation story, this creation story reflected by those Israelites who
believe that God created all of us in the image of God, that we are created in the likeness of
god and then that second creation story you should read it and you know you know you know preachers
got a way of making you go read the bible it doesn't matter what faith tradition you have
it's a striking story that calls us to see these rivers in the garden that that that were the
the nourishment of the garden there was the tigris river and there was the euphrates river and there
There was the Gishon and there was the Pishon, all four of these rivers, Mr. Jim, they flowed together to ensure that the garden that would ensure that the origin of humanity would flourish.
They flowed together. Transportation flowed so the community could grow. And then by the end of the story, those first two humans said that I am flesh of flesh and bone of bone, meaning that if I break, you break, too.
And I believe that this project, this community project is one that must embody Ubuntu that says that if 95th Street breaks, then Chicago breaks.
And if Chicago breaks, then Illinois breaks.
And if Illinois breaks, then the rest of this country breaks.
And we are excited, not simply because of a train that will ensure more access to transformation, but we are excited because when transportation flows, the community will grow.
More mothers will have money to ensure that their children can go to school and flourish and thrive.
More families can be whole and come together.
More people will not be marginalized to the side, but we will thrive because all of us flow together.
And so I don't want to be before you any longer and be Baptist.
But if we can, because I noticed that there was not a prayer on program, if we could all pause in our own separate traditions and say a word of prayer.
Let us pray.
A wonderful God of creation, who has formed us in the image and likeness of you.
And because we are created in your image, oh God, we can say that we are all good.
And as a consequence, oh Lord, we believe that how we operate in community,
Whether it be in business or transportation, we must ensure the way we allocate our resources must ensure that all of us thrive, not simply survive, but flourish and look like a wonderful God who created us in your wonderful image.
And it is this day simply not that we break the ground for a building project, but we break the ground, the very ground that you created, the very ground that is good, that has soil, that all of us stand upon as a foundation for thriving transformation, for reality of liberation for all of your people.
It is in your wonderful name, your wonderful spirit that we all say together.
Amen.
Let's give another hand for that.
And I would say that I know Jim DeWinsky did not know that his comments of transportation where it grows,
goals, communities will grow.
He didn't know that he was going to identify the theme and the subject for a sermon that.
So hands to you, Jim.
Thank you to Reverend Titus Bryant for those comments.
Now I have the distinct pleasure of bringing one of our great senators that represent the state of Illinois
and who's also passionate about this project and who also has not been.
and shy was showing his dedication and commitment, and I believe that he has secured some funds to
help us move this project along. Just a little bit. But you know, a little bit can go a long
way, so we can take that little bit and turn it into a lot of bit because this is going to be an
awesome project. Senator L.G. Sims Jr., representing the 17th District. I feel like I need to say the
doors of the church are open. Pastor, turn to your neighbor. That was truly a word.
But let me say thank you and good morning. It is an honor to be here. You know, I cannot
be in this space and be in this moment without invoking the name of the individual who was
on the name on the convocation center senate president emil jones that's right that deserves
a hand clap a phrase there you know when janice when you're talking about 1997 how this community
how this how this campus was transformed i was actually working for the senate president
you you'll get your turn you'll get your turn
um so you know i i grew up in this community i grew up probably you know 10 minutes from this
campus and this you know i i remember listening to uh the senate president talk about the the
amenities that this campus needed the investments you know when you talk about investments madam
chair the investments that this community that this campus needed to make it competitive well
those investments are paying tangible dividends you see that convocation center you see the brand
new you see the library you see the dormitories you see all the work that is happening in this
community that didn't happen by chance that happened because you had a focused leader who
was focused on progress in this community and that's what yeah that's right you can you can
you can you can clap for that you know and that's that's that's what you know keeping with the theme
of of of of spirit the spiritual theme you know the word tells me that when there is no vision
the people perish we have a leader here on this campus and our president who has a vision you
know i've known z scott for a long time i've known her a number of different number different ways
number different settings but i remember you know when she first got here the vision that she had
not just for this campus, for this broader community.
And, Z, I want to publicly thank you for staying true to that vision,
staying true to your commitment to that vision,
and making sure that we continue on that path because it's necessary.
It's necessary to make sure that we continue to invest in this community,
grow this community, continue to produce more black PhDs
than any other university in this entire state.
That happens right here on this campus.
Now, I had a whole 10-page speech, but it's starting to rain, so I'm going to stop.
But I do want to say this to you.
It is important for us to make sure that we continue to work together.
And I see some community leaders here like Peggy Montez and Eli Washington,
people who are committed to this community, who are staples of this community,
who want to make sure that this community continues to grow and thrive.
Thank you for your partnership.
Thank you for your commitment.
Thank you for your continued service.
I would be remiss if I stood here and tried to say that this happened by myself because I've got some amazing partners, both at the city, the county, the federal level, the state level.
We're all working together, but led by our mayor, who's been a tremendous partner with us.
but i have got to give great thanks to my partner in progress my big sister all the
they're all the women of the eighth ward all the women michelle harris and even though he tried to
steal my moment our commissioner of the fourth district even though he gonna get his chance to
speak next he's gonna try and interrupt on my infringe on my speech but no but but this moment
is not just about us. It's about us. This is a we moment. This is one of those few we moments.
You know, folks don't know that my first leadership role in the Illinois General Assembly
was as vice chairman of the House Mass Transit Committee. So we started talking about this
years ago, how we're going to redevelop this.
And then to have a partner, both in the chairwoman and the president, who wanted to make that come to fruition, it is an awesome prospect.
So thank you, thank you, thank you.
God bless you.
We're going to continue to invest in this community to make sure that it grows.
Have a great day.
Thank you, Senator Sims.
Now, if you can't tell, the next speaker is about to jump out of his chair
because he's so excited to come up and share his also enthusiasm and excitement about this project.
Commissioner Stanley Moore, representing Cook County.
Can you give him a hand as you can?
Good morning.
I want to thank you all for allowing me to be here today.
I'm Cook County Commissioner Stanley Moore of the 4th District.
Welcome to the 4th District.
It is an honor to be here with so many people who are fighting for our community, trying to make our community a better place to live, work, and shop.
And I want to thank Senator L.G. Sims for mentioning the history of Emo Jones.
That's very important.
So thank you, Senator.
I don't think people realize that at one time, Chicago State did not have a place for our children to actually graduate from.
We used to have to take our children and go elsewhere and rent a space so that they can hold their convocation and graduation.
That doesn't make any sense to me.
And it was because of Senator Emo Jones, his vision, that he wanted to create a convocation center so our children can stay right here in this district and graduate from here and be here.
So kudos to Senator Jones and his leadership.
Give him a round of applause.
Yes. And just imagine, you know, I'd like to consider myself a little bit of a historian and I love history.
And Senator Dillard, like I like to call him, Senator Kirk Dillard, Senator Kirk Dillard mentioned that this school was founded in 18.
What was it? 1867. Well, that was the time of the Civil War.
I mean, not World War One, not World War Two. That's during the Civil War.
And after the Civil War, there was about 698,000 soldiers that were killed in the Civil War.
The federal government decided that they needed to educate people and they needed to create hospitals to take care of people after the war.
And they gave Danville, Illinois and Urbana, Illinois a choice.
They said, well, after this war, you can either choose a veterans hospital or you can choose a university.
Well, Danville said, well, there's always going to be war, so we choose a veteran's hospital.
And University, I'm sorry, Urbana said, well, we choose a college.
Well, we've seen what the University of Illinois has done to further that community and grow that community and make it a world-class university that it is today.
And Danville, who chose the hospital, veteran hospital, has not flourished like it should have, right?
And I think back that they also gave us a choice to choose, and we chose a university.
But our college has not flourished the same way that the University of Illinois has flourished.
But I believe that our children deserve to flourish, and our community deserves to flourish just like any other community.
And this investment in this community is what is going to help our community flourish.
Like the pastor said, like our chairman Jim Dorinsky said, that transportation causes a community to grow.
So it's about time that we invest in our community and provide the transportation that our children need to come from the south side,
from the south suburbs to the north suburbs, to be able to come here to this university and study here.
I met my wife here.
She was living in that dormitory.
She said sneak up there and knock on the window.
But this is this is I heard that we were the same age, but I'm saying that this is our home.
This is where we grow. This is where we we we raise our children.
This is our university. This is our school. And I'm proud to stand here in support of this progress and this program.
So thank you, each and every one of you, for your support and your participation in helping our community be the best place to live, work, and shop.
Thank you.
Thank you, Commissioner Moore.
Now, I do have the pleasure of bringing up one of the hardest working aldermen.
I believe the city of Chicago has, and I say that because she works with such elegance and grace.
She has a pleasant demeanor.
Even though she's committed to the task at hand, you will never know if she's shaking a nerve because of how she carries herself with such elegance and grace.
So I would like to bring up Alderwoman Michelle Harris, the 8th Ward.
I'm going to tell you about Chicago State, y'all.
I am the beneficiary of getting this in a remap.
Now, some 14 years ago, we went down to Metra, and I fought real hard for 79th Street and 83rd Street and 87th Street, and God bless us.
We finally got those taken care of.
Fast forward to today, and I want to give credit to where credit is due,
because Alderman Bill worked real hard to make sure that these stations that were part of the original part of the Ninth Ward actually got taken care of.
So I'm really appreciative to him for all his hard work and commitment because fast forward, I got a wonderful gift.
So I am grateful for all the hard work and the commitment and why we're here.
But I must tell you this, Chicago State had embraced me in a time when I needed to be embraced.
And a time where I really needed to get through school, working full time, had a husband who was sick and had a mom who was sick.
And I was doing juggling all these things.
They embraced me on this campus.
They allowed me to be in an atmosphere and created classes that were convenient for me to go to school on a Saturday.
I went to school all day on Saturday.
I went to school some evenings.
But if they had not had that program, I never probably would have ever finished my degree.
So as I talk about what a school can do, they produce great candidates.
They produce great people graduate from here.
And I'm going to talk about my former office mate, Representative Marlo Colvin, who also went back to school.
And when I was saying, I'm going back to school, he said, go on up to Chicago State.
They're going to do you good.
You're going to be fine.
And I am grateful for an institution that embraces older students who are trying to do and juggle many things and juggle life in general.
And, again, I can never be more grateful for Z. Scott than I am today because when she got here, she transformed this campus.
She has been a marvelous leader.
And if people don't know her, you need to know her.
You need to know her.
She is doing amazing things, not just here on the campus, but with the students.
It is so tough in my part of the universe for so many kids and children and older people and the sacrifices they have to make sometimes to go to school.
And so I am grateful for a university that embraces all of that stuff, put it in a big little box, and helps you figure out which box to open first, which box to open last,
and how you're going to get from point A to the end of the line at the end of the alphabet.
And so I am grateful that year that I graduated.
I'm going to tell you I had a lot of really remarkable things happen.
My mom died that January.
My husband died that May.
I graduated in May, and then I became the ultimate in December.
So you can't tell me that God ain't in the plans to make some wonderful things happen
and to make Chicago State give me that sense of comfort and confidence that I needed to move forward.
So I am grateful to everybody who has been a part of my growth and my development,
and Chicago State has been that for me.
Now, I want to thank everybody at METRA because I live in a universe where I don't work by myself.
I got amazing partners from the state level, from the county to the federal government,
where I work really close with Senator Duckworth's office.
I am truly blessed to have a wonderful relationship in there who we call her Lauren Harris.
She works with Senator.
Hey, Jessie.
She works in that office, but she has been a vital part of keeping me connected
and keeping everybody connected as everybody's working real hard as we're going through,
as our nation is going through just the whole tumultuous period.
So today, I'm grateful, and Metra, I can't thank you all enough.
Jim, you have been truly amazing through this whole process.
79th Street got finished in the wintertime.
We are working on finishing up 87th Street, and as God...
I would have it. We started to work on 95th Street simultaneously.
So as an alderman, I'm super grateful for everybody who has been a part of this and helping Chicago State to get to this.
I can't even tell you. There are some representatives from the Calumet Heights group that lives on the other side of the Vidoc.
And for a person that rolled Metro to work every day because of its reliability.
I knew I wasn't going to never be late because I knew I was going to be on that train at 726.
And I know at 726, it's going to be a train.
And if I happen to miss the 726 train, I get in my car and I ride down to 59th Street
and I can catch four or five trains and still make it to work on time.
So I am grateful for Metro.
It has allowed me to prosper, do well, get to work, be able to raise my family,
and get me where I needed to be in a reliable system.
Not the CTA, Nate, but, you know, sometimes standing up on the number 14 bus could be kind of tiring.
you know going and coming standing up come home standing up going to work so i chose metra uh for
its reliability but i it created a family for me there are so many people that i rode that train
with that retired from their job now and we still keep in touch with each other so it created a
family for me and so for the regular riders if you have a rap metric you're going to figure out
that you're going to love metra uh because it gets you where you need to go so with that i want to
say thank you again for everybody everybody that has made this project happen today where we're
going to uh break ground on what is truly needed at 95th street a beautiful metro train stop thank
you thank you all the woman and so i'm marketing folks in the audience she said metro will get you
where you need to go so hold on to that tagline metro will get you where you need to go thank you
for that. Okay, now, I get the pleasure of introducing Chicago's mayor. All right, give
it up for Chicago's mayor. The first time that I actually had a chance to meet the mayor
in a soft, quiet setting, we were at a Comto event. I don't know if you remember, not too
long ago, vaguely. We were at a Comto event, and he came in, and he was just so humble
and pleasant and approachable, and that just left a little bit of a lasting impression on me.
So I am excited to have this opportunity to bring up the mayor of the greatest city, Chicago.
Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Well, thank you so much for that introduction, and I'm grateful to be with you all this afternoon.
Good afternoon.
I do want to thank all of our elected officials that I hear, Senator Sims and my former colleague,
Commissioner Stanley Moore.
We do have an amazing chairwoman.
Chairwoman Harris has done a great job for the city of Chicago.
Thank you to President C. Scott for your leadership, James Derwinski.
I'm not sure if you ever dreamed of being a part of an African proverb,
but today clearly dreams do come true at the Chicago State University.
Chair Andy Zopp, thank you, Andy, for just being an incredible leader over the course of many years
and for this entire community.
Look, this is about a shared vision, and having access to all of the amenities of our city,
especially our institutions, our university here at Chicago State, is so critical to building a stronger economy.
And today we have achieved that vision by breaking ground on the 95th Street Chicago State University Metro Station.
This station really reflects the power of partnerships, as you heard today,
the shared vision around affordability and safety and having a strong south side of Chicago,
which, by the way, you all do make a west side or feel very proud to come to the south side of Chicago.
But as was articulated, 2023 is when the Chicago Department of Planning and Development
began to collaborate with Chicago State University to study this plan, to see it come into fruition.
And this framework is really a model for the future of transportation.
You know, public transportation really is a part of our overall civil rights.
And so I know that this is the dream of ancestors who have stood on this very sacred ground.
And so now we'll be able to expand more opportunities and build a corridor that allows for real transformation to take place.
And so the community members who live along and near 95th Street were a part of this process as well to provide the input for this corridor plan.
And so today is really a manifestation of the vision of the community.
And so as a person who is not Baptist but Church of God in Christ,
the fact that I can get my speech done in 90 seconds just tells you that anything is possible.
So thank you, Chicago State University.
It's an incredible institution, but we're grateful for this project.
The way local government and community can come together to build critical projects like this is how we build the safest, most affordable big city in America.
God bless you all, and God bless the greatest freaking city in the world, the city of Chicago.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mayor.
Before we move to where we're going to actually throw the dirt, I want to call out the Metro folks that really made this happen.
Metro Police, just give a shout out as I call you.
Our capital delivery and our PMO who's working to deliver this project.
Our mechanical department who made sure we had old-fashioned donuts over there supporting the community.
Our engineering department who set up all of the tits and the acoustics that we have here.
Our media department.
Come on, our marketing department.
Also, those other employees from Metro just say hello, shout-out to you.
And I want to say a big shout-out to McKay Murphy who took this, came in, hasn't been at Metro,
but less than three months, and this is his first event, and I'd say McKay has done an awesome job,
so give it up for McKay. So now it's time for you to follow my instructions. I would like all of our
esteemed guests right here to please make your way over to the shovels. There's a shovel and a hard
had, I believe, waiting for you. Okay.