UIC Athletics NIL Town Hall | Curtis Granderson Segment
We will now introduce our next speaker who is a UIC alum who truly represents what it means to be a member of Chicago’s college team. Curtis Granderson played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball for seven organizations. A three-time all-star, Curtis received the Roberto Clemente Award for his work both on and off the diamond in 2016. He received his degree from the College of Business Administration in 2003. Curtis, thank you so much for joining us this evening. Yeah, thank you very much for the in introduction and and appreciate you having me be a part of this great panel and great conversation. Uh thanks again to everyone on here and you know my career, my life and everything is developed and built based on UIC. I mean I entered as an incoming student athlete in 1999 and here we are in 2025. And if everyone on the call listening has heard from everyone that’s spoken before, there’s been constant mention of student athletes. Always that student part being first. I know there’s obviously a bunch of students that are going to get an opportunity to play in their respective sports, but of course, we still have to do the things we need in the classroom. And that’s going to shape us up for everything that we do moving forward because let’s face it, we’re going to be non-athletes longer than we are athletes, no matter how long we ever get a chance to play. And I think UIC did such an amazing job for me personally in that area. I was a college business graduate. I got a chance to be a double major. And both my parents taught here in the Chicagoland area. And I remember talking to my mom about, you know, why she thought college was important. And she said, “Look, I sent you to college so you could put yourself in a situation to be able to take care of yourself.” And that’s what you got an opportunity to do. And being able to not only study business management, study business marketing, but also play baseball at UIC shaped and molded me to be able to do those things. And when I get an opportunity to not only play at the professional level, but once I finish get a chance to start nonprofits after, you know, understanding entrepreneurial studies and marketing and management, but then getting a chance to be on the camera from the broadcast side, everyone goes, “Did you take any, you know, talking lessons or speaking lessons?” I said, “Officially, no, but unofficially, yes.” As a student athlete, we had a lot of presentations and we had to do group projects and one of us had to be the leader to speak in front of everybody. And for some reason, everybody pointed to me to step up in front and kind of take the ball and run with it. So, as a 18, 19 year old student, as we have to present about different projects, I’m getting my first taste at that side of things. So, I think that helps shape and mold me in so many different ways. and just the dynamic of the student body population at the university as a whole. I remember taking one of my first classes and one of my classmates was a international student from Egypt and we’re getting ready to discuss our first winter break and he asked me what’s my plans for the winter and I said yeah you know I’m going to go home uh get a chance to see some friends and family looking forward to celebrating New Year’s I always did New Year’s Eve parties and you know we’re going to decide which hotel party we’re going to go to which club we’re going to go to etc etc I said what are you going to do and he said it so casually to me and it shaped and molded me moving forward. He goes, “I’m just going to go out to the pyramids and watch the fireworks.” And I said, “Wow.” I go, “I want to do that. I want to be able to travel the world to have these experiences that my classmates, my peers are experiencing different parts of the world.” And with UIC historically always being one of the most diverse schools in the country, both from its racial makeup, but from where all these students come from, that helped and shaped and molded me. And if you look back at that time frame, there’s a new study that just came out. It talked about the number of Americans that had passports in the early 2000s versus where we are now. I think it was about like 30% of all the American population back then. Now we are at about the 50% range. And for me, I wanted to get out there and see the world. And it was because of the classmates I had at UIC and getting that opportunity to do so. And I think it also helped shape and molded me as a professional athlete once I stepped on the field and I had teammates from South Africa, from Australia, from Japan, Taiwan, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Dominican, Canada, Mexico. That’s what my classes look like. That’s what the other athletes, the student athletes look like. And it made things so easy for me to adapt and and translate into that situation because of the things I did in my time as a student athlete at UIC. Like I remember first hearing about In-N-Out Burger from the softball players that had come from California and they were talking about just how this is one of the best burgers in the world. I said, “Okay, when I get a chance to finally make it over there, I’m going to see for myself.” But all those conversations happened from being a student athlete at UIC and of course Chicago being home. And I just remember my dorm was on Hol and uh Harrison. So I had a view of the city and I always loved just seeing the Sears Tower aka the Willis Tower and having those experiences. going to my first ever Cubs game happened as a UIC student athlete, getting on the L, taking the red line, going up there and seeing that and embracing into that and going, “Okay, if I don’t get a chance to play as a professional athlete, what would I love to do with my career?” And at that time, I remember Nike Town had just opened up on Michigan Avenue. I said I could see myself being involved in that, utilizing my management and marketing skills to help bring the next shoe, the coolest ad, all those great things. And fast forward as I get a chance to stay connected with the College of Business, one of the things they always talk about is how many UIC alums work in the city of Chicago. So if you’re a student from anywhere in the world, if you’re getting a chance one to conveniently have a place, a destination to travel to like UIC in Chicago, that’s a plus. If playing student athlete, being a student athlete and playing in front of some of the best talent is there for you, that’s also there. And if you’re end up graduating and don’t get a chance to play professionally, well, the career is right in front of you because in your backyard, one of the best cities in the world with some of the biggest countries in the world are right there for you. So all that shaped and helped mold me. And oh yeah, I also bought my first home, which I still live in to this day here in University Village. So I’m walking distance from the campus. I I loved every moment of it as an incoming student and I sit here now talking to you as a 44 year old alum and showing the relationship of what UIC has meant to me both then and still is now. So for all the the donors and supporters that are on here, you know, truly appreciate everything that you have done and are considering doing and understand that any contribution that you have in the help or happen to help with whether it’s mentoring, whether it’s financial, whether it’s guiding, whether it’s connections and networking truly impact in more ways than you could ever imagine. And of course, let’s face it, not all of the student athletes are going to become professional athletes, but they can create an amazing career and a amazing path in their life, which goes back to the plan and goal of why my mom wanted me to go to college, to be able to take care of themselves. And that’s what UIC did for me. And that’s why I still call Chicago home. So, I’m truly thankful for everyone that’s been a part of my life and the UIC Flames family, both old and new. the people that I’ve met recently that are on this call, the people that I’ve stayed connected with as a 18-year-old incoming student here at UIC and everybody beyond. So hopefully get a chance to meet those that are on this call that I don’t get a chance to see. If you ever see me on campus at a basketball game, at a softball game, a baseball game, a soccer game, do not hesitate to come and say hello. I’d love to chat with you and talk to you about it and truly appreciated my time there. Again, thank you very much for allowing me to be on here. Thank you for all the support. And I’d love to go ahead and cast things back to our AD who’s doing such an amazing job in her second season here at UIC, getting things just taking the bull by the horns and continuing to roll with it. Andrea, continue to do your thing. Uh so excited about you and the staff and everything that you’re doing over here. And again, if anybody needs any info, any insight, do not hesitate to reach out. Anyone on this panel can connect you to me. I’m also on social. Do not hesitate. Thank you very much, everyone.
UIC Hall of Famer Curtis Granderson joins the Town Hall discussion to talk about UIC’s impact on his career, and how Flames fans can get involved with NIL.
Watch the full webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz3uGnLY4kY
