Charles Clancy

The University of Maryland, College Park is a public research university, the flagship campus of the University System of Maryland, and the original 1862 land-grant institution in the State. The University of Maryland is committed to achieving excellence as the State’s primary center of research and graduate education and the institution of choice for undergraduate students of exceptional ability and promise. The University creates and applies knowledge for the benefit of the economy and culture of the State, the region, the nation, and beyond. As the flagship of the University System of Maryland, the University shares its research, educational, cultural, and technological strengths with businesses, government, and other educational institutions. The University counts among its greatest strengths -- and a major component of its excellence -- the diversity of its faculty, students, and staff. The University of Maryland, College Park is committed to equal educational opportunity and strives to hire a diverse faculty and staff of exceptional achievement through affirmative actions, to celebrate diversity in all of its programs and activities, and to recruit and retain qualified graduate and undergraduate minority students.

The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a public research-intensive university in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system. The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is the second oldest public university in the state (after Illinois State University), and is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference. It is considered a Public Ivy and is a member of the Association of American Universities.

Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology (abbreviated RHIT), formerly Rose Polytechnic Institute, is a small private college specializing in teaching engineering, mathematics and science. RHIT is highly regarded for its undergraduate engineering program, which US News and World Reports ranked in 2013 as No. 1 in the United States of engineering schools where a doctorate degree is not offered, a position it has held since 2000.[3] Its 295-acre (0.5 sq mi; 119.4 ha) campus is located in Terre Haute, Indiana.