Southern Illinois University Carbondale has stopped their downward trend in enrollment by bringing in their largest freshman class in five years. This fall, 1,422 Salukis are starting their college career, bringing an increase of 4.5% from previous years.

“Our faculty, staff, students and alums have gone above and beyond to change the downward trajectory of the declines we have experienced since 2016,” said SIU Carbondale Chancellor Austin Lane. “I want to personally thank each of them for rallying around enrollment and working tirelessly to show the unique opportunities future Salukis have. Today’s news is the result of all that effort.”

Residents and tourists looking to beat the heat this summer have a great selection of city pools and waterparks across Illinois. Here are some of the state’s popular waterparks.

A beloved annual celebration in Bloomington will reach a lofty milestone in July. The David Davis Mansion State Historic Site will be celebrating the 25th year of its Glorious Garden Festival on July 16-17.

First hosted in 1997, the Glorious Garden Festival brings local residents and tourists to the Bloomington-Normal community to take part in garden-themed events and to share gardening knowledge.

Located in Monticello in the heart of Illinois, Allerton Park and Retreat Center contains 1,500 acres of woodland and prairie areas, a 10-acre meadow, sculpture gardens, hiking trails and a historic mansion. Originally built as a private residence by artist and philanthropist Robert Allerton in 1900, the park was donated by Allerton to the University of Illinois in 1946.

Robert Allerton was born in Chicago on March 20, 1873. As a young man, he decided to forego entering his father’s business in farming and banking, instead opting to dedicate his life to the pursuit of art. Eventually, he took over the management of some of his father’s holdings in Monticello, naming the area “The Farms.”

Happy Pride Month! June is a month-long celebration of LGBTQIA+ culture and their contributions throughout history. Illinois has a notable history of celebrating pride, particularly in Chicago.

A year after the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York, inspired by what occurred there, activists in Chicago put on the first ever major pride event in the city. A lot of Pride events, including the ones in Chicago, initially started out as protests with LGBTQIA+ people fighting for equality. The pride events in Chicago have grown over the years, going from hundreds of attendees to hundreds of thousands of attendees.