I’ve asked Robin Kaler, the University’s spokesperson, for a statement countless times in my years writing for The Daily Illini. Last December, I asked for something different for my final story before I graduate — a profile on Chancellor Robert Jones.

Jones is set to depart Champaign-Urbana in June. He will remain in the Big Ten conference as the next president of the University of Washington, heading UW’s three campuses: Seattle, Bothell and Tacoma.

The Daily Illini spoke to Jones on his first day as chancellor nine years ago, and Jones agreed to speak to us once again as his time here nears its end.

When I told my friends about my upcoming scoop, all I heard were anecdotes on their run-ins with Jones. One friend saw him eating at Panda Express on Green Street. My roommate, with Avicenna Community Health Center, was invited to his home for lunch. “I’ve seen him at the Union, and he has aura,” another said. And I was shown at least half a dozen selfies featuring Jones’ pearly smile and larger-than-life stature.

“I can’t tell you how much I value the fact that students recognize who I am and they want to take selfies … because that’s not the world that I grew up in when I was in college,” Jones said, earnest despite my prior comment that he was a “man of the people.”

Before Jones became the 10th chancellor of the University in 2016; before he served as president of State University of New York at Albany; before he received his first tenure-track position at the University of Minnesota; Jones was nicknamed “professor” by his 10th-grade teacher.

This moment would serve as a catalyst in Jones’ journey to pursue a doctorate in plant physiology, become a university professor and build a prolific research career. Over 50 years later, Jones has not only reached the pinnacle of higher education administration but is also the recipient of three Grammys with gospel ensemble Sounds of Blackness.

“It was not a direct route here, but I fundamentally believe that everything I’ve done across my education and my career was preparing me for this leadership role that I have now at the University of Illinois,” Jones said.

Jones, a Georgia native and the University’s first Black chancellor, credits mentors and teachers in his life for helping him get to where he is today. His path to leadership was unconventional and full of pivots, he said at the Swanlund Administration Building on an April afternoon.

“The first thing you (have) to learn is not everything you do is going to be successful, and there’s no such thing as failure,” Jones said, his baritone voice reflective. “It’s just maybe an opportunity to step back, recalibrate and go in a different direction.”

And having been an outsider, Jones has sought to provide the same opportunities to others under his tenure, emphasizing the University’s mission as a land-grant institution and education’s larger function as a “public good.”

“I’ve always been very concerned that, as part of our land-grant mission, we need to be providing a world-class education at an affordable price,” Jones said.

In 2018, the University introduced Illinois Commitment, which provides four years of free tuition to Illinois residents whose families make under $75,000 per year. Since its inception, over 10,000 students have received the Illinois Commitment, with the University committing over $90 million to the program.

“We started Illinois Commitment because we found out there (were) a lot of students from different geographical parts of the state — greater Chicagoland, central Illinois and southern Illinois — (who) weren’t even applying to the University although they were college-ready,” Jones said.

Jacob McBride, senior in Engineering, is one recipient and cited the program as one of the main reasons he was able to attend the University.

“Having this scholarship allows me to get a high-class education for a very low cost,” McBride said. “It’s very beneficial to me when I graduate as I will have little to no debt, which will allow me to (enter) the job sector with more financial freedom.”

Jones also oversaw the creation of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, launched in 2017 as the world’s first engineering-based medical school.

Maaz Imam, a first-year medical student, said he chose Carle because of the school’s focus on innovation and interdisciplinary learning.

“The school (Carle) does a really good job of allowing us to channel our individual strengths into things that could make us, and by extension, other people around us, successful,” Imam said.

Imam’s experience at Carle reflects a philosophy that Jones champions: radical collaboration. According to Jones, the challenges society is facing are too vast and complex for the individual, or even the University, to solve alone. To innovate, to meet the needs of the workforce, to solve some of our biggest problems, means we first need to reimagine how we work together.

In 2023, the University was selected alongside Northwestern University and the University of Chicago to co-lead the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago, aimed at developing new methods to study human tissue.

Coupled with new research initiatives is academic expansion, such as the growth of the CS + X program and rising rankings: The University was named as one of Forbes Magazine’s “New Ivies” for the second year in a row this April.

Jones doesn’t put much emphasis on this prestige, instead choosing to focus on the experiences of students. But his chancellorship has not been without its obstacles: the COVID-19 pandemic, campus protests and, most recently, the federal government.

Jones is one of few university leaders willing to speak on the actions of President Donald Trump’s administration.  Since his inauguration, Trump has cut federal funding for research, targeted diversity, equity and inclusion policies and sought to remake higher education in his image.

Though some schools have capitulated to the Trump administration’s demands following threats of losing federal funds, the University has remained steadfast in its values.

“We are treating this like the crisis it is, abiding by the law, but doing things that align with our values as (a) public land-grant university and protecting students and faculty,” Jones said, crediting the team of people around him as essential to tackling complex problems.

“No one chancellor (or) president can manage the complexity of running a university alone. I’m very, very fortunate I have people like this young lady who is helping me manage through not only the strategic communication (but every) part of each grand challenge,” Jones said as he gestured to Kaler on his right.

Even so, despite the monkeys and circus sure to follow him to his next role, what comes next for Jones?

Well first, he will serve as our 2025 Commencement speaker. If he had more time? He would learn bass guitar and become fluent in Spanish.

And before I left the interview, I made sure to get my picture with him.

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