Authentically AU: News and Views from the President

Sadly, though America often is described as a “nation of immigrants,” the real stories are too often painful to recount. For Chinese Americans this has been especially true. In the mid-1850s, natural disasters in China and news of the Gold Rush in California triggered the first major...

Two of our greatest American presidents were born in February. During my rural Illinois childhood, we celebrated Abraham Lincoln and George Washington by making silhouettes of the two leaders. Today I sat for a few moments and tried to remember exactly how this annual art project progressed. To...

I don’t “pull all-nighters” anymore. But last night was an exception as I watched the United States Congress complete the task of certifying the Electoral College outcome. Now we await the inauguration of a new President with shocking images from yesterday burned into our...

For centuries, scholars, believers and skeptics alike have studied the Bethlehem story. Tonight — and for days thereafter — we will have an opportunity to see firsthand what some think may have been the star that guided the shepherds to the manger. I write about the Great Conjunction,...

Crimson. Orange. Gold. The colors of a Midwestern October return year after year. Trees reach their most vibrant hues after a moist (not wet) summer and a sunny, dry fall. They like cool nights, not early freezes. This was a very good year in Illinois and Wisconsin for vibrant autumn hues. Spend...