I’s on the World: I-L-L Hat

Oh, the places we go … University of Illinois alumni are globetrotters who travel near and far, but never forget their Alma Mater!

Tom and Allison Schmidt pose for selfie with Paris skyline view.
Oh, the places we go … University of Illinois alumni are globetrotters who travel near and far, but never forget their Alma Mater!

“My husband never takes off his Illinois hat,” says Shari L. Schmidt, ’85 LAS, MPA ’94 UIC. And to prove it, she snapped a photo of him wearing his chapeau atop Paris’ Arc de Triomphe during the family’s spring break trip to France. Shari and Tom Schmidt, ’80 BUS, were joined by daughter Allison, a junior at Illinois studying psychology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The Schmidts hail from Palos Hills, Ill., where Shari is a generative AI marketing consultant and Tom is a Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois retiree.

Displaying the Orange and Blue generated goodwill and Illini spirit throughout the family’s journey. Says Shari: “Several times during our vacation, Tom heard ‘I-L-L!’ from other Illini acknowledging his hat.”

For more photos of alumni around the world, check out our Flickr album. Send pictures of yourself clad in orange and blue to IllinoisAlumni@uillinois.edu. You also can post to www.Facebook.com/IllinoisAlumni and twitter.com/uiaa using hashtag #IlliniWorldwide.

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