UIC alums talk about how education shaped their upward mobility
Social mobility can be measured in numbers: degrees earned, incomes increased, careers launched. But its deeper meaning is human. It is about possibility arising across lifetimes and generations.
At UIC, a national leader in promoting student social mobility and a nationally recognized Carnegie Opportunity University, that possibility takes shape every day through students and graduates whose talent, determination, lived experience and community-rooted perspective help move Chicago forward.
The stories of Deborah Evans, MS ’85, and Miguel Lemus, BS ’18, show what social mobility looks like in practice: two alums from different eras and different fields whose lives reflect how access to education, strong mentorship and a public research university in the heart of Chicago can create opportunity and economic mobility on a large scale and strengthen communities and industry.
Together, Evans and Lemus illustrate something essential about UIC’s impact when graduates carry their knowledge, perspective and commitment back into their institutions, industries and neighborhoods. Evans contributes to science, innovation and health. Lemus contributes to communications, civic storytelling and community visibility. Both are examples of how UIC prepares students not simply to begin a career, but to own their potential without limits.
Debra Evans
MS Engineering, ’85
“My mom worked for Chicago Public Schools. My dad worked as a contractor and started his own business. We kids chose jobs that they had absolutely no idea even existed in the world.”
Miguel Lemus
BS Communications, ’18
“I learned early on the importance of financial management. It gave me the motivation to put myself in a better position to help my family.”
UIC’s commitment to accelerating social mobility for students of all backgrounds is central to our mission to offer the broadest access to the highest levels of educational, research and clinical excellence. Learn more about the Chancellor’s Student Success Initiative.
