UIC advantages for Obama library

University librarian Mary Case highlighted UIC’s advantages as the site for the Obama Presidential Library and Museum on WTTW-TV “Chicago Tonight.”

“We have a site on our campus, at Harrison and Halsted, that we believe is superior because it’s so very close to downtown that it would actually drive attendance.”

Mary Case, UIC librarian, on the UIC’s advantages as the site for the Obama Presidential Library and Museum, Jan. 7 WTTW-TV “Chicago Tonight”

“If he wants to be consistent with the message he’s given throughout his presidency, it really only makes sense to give it to us. To suddenly hand over your legacy to a private institution seems rather hypocritical.”

UIC student trustee Danielle Leibowitz on UIC’s bid for the Obama Presidential Library and Museum, Jan. 1 New York Times

“Those of us that are in our 50s and 60s — I’m sorry. We’re all aging; he’s just part of the crowd.”

S. Jay Olshansky, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics and an expert on longevity, discounts reports that stress is prematurely aging President Barack Obama, Dec. 27 Los Angeles Times

“There was worry a show like that would demolish the aesthetic credibility of the museum. But a lot of contemporary art is about changing boundaries, and I think (the MCA staff) grappled — and to an extent the audience grappled — with those issues in the right way.”

Lisa Yun Lee, director of the School of Art and Art History, on the David Bowie exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Dec. 31 Chicago Tribune

“If North Lawndale was good enough for Dr. King, it’s good enough for a presidential library.”

Political columnist Ben Joravsky on UIC’s bid for the Obama Presidential Library and Museum, Jan. 7 Chicago Reader