Angie Cooksy: 0:05

Welcome back. This is the Bradley University Podcast. I am one of your hosts, Angie Cooksy.

Ben Jedd: 0:10

And I am Ben Jedd.

Angie Cooksy: 0:12

And we serve as uh overseeing enrollment and marketing here at Bradley University. And this is one of the coolest parts of our job. We get to host the Bradley University podcast where people come on and share their stories of all of the cool, amazing things that are happening in and around campus. Um Ben, what have you been up to lately?

Ben Jedd: 0:31

Mostly I've uh been here in Hilltop Studios listening to Angie play the piano. It's an electric piano.

Angie Cooksy: 0:38

Um but no, we're there is a new I think that piano wasn't here last time.

Ben Jedd: 0:42

Yeah, no, I know.

Angie Cooksy: 0:43

Okay.

Ben Jedd: 0:44

Um so uh drew my attention right away. Uh but no, we we've been working a lot on trying to communicate with the next class of 2030 that's going to be coming to Bradley, right? And telling our story and telling all the great things that are happening on campus. It's been a lot of fun.

Angie Cooksy: 1:00

Well, and the new Watch Us commercial is out.

Ben Jedd: 1:03

The new Watch Us commercial is out. We had a Super Bowl ad, it's during the Olympics. It's been a lot of fun. It's been a lot of fun. Yeah.

Angie Cooksy: 1:09

And speaking of "Watch Us," um, our guest today is Travis Weaver, who is the Illinois State Representative and one of our adjunct business professors at Bradley, and I am so excited to have him here. Travis, welcome to the Bradley University Podcast.

Travis Weaver: 1:21

Thank you guys so much. There's no place on earth I'd rather be than on the hilltop today with you two fun people. This is I I'm honestly giddy. I I watched the podcast, and when you reached out to me, I was like, oh my gosh, my number's been called. Let's go.

Angie Cooksy: 1:33

Oh my gosh, people are excited to come on our show.

Ben Jedd: 1:35

People are excited. It's exciting.

Travis Weaver: 1:37

I was pumped.

Angie Cooksy: 1:38

So tell us a little bit. So the the whole point of the show is to really highlight the people and the human heart that is Bradley, because I think that's one of the things that everybody says is, you know, a place is just a place, but it's the people that make a place magical. And so tell us a little bit about your background and um your journey to, you know, your connection to Bradley.

Travis Weaver: 1:58

Yeah. So my Bradley relationship has really evolved throughout my life. It started off with uh being born and raised going to Bradley basketball games. My my family had a whole row between my parents, my grandparents, my aunts and uncles, we had a whole row. So it was like family affair, family reunion.

Ben Jedd: 2:13

That's really adorable.

Travis Weaver: 2:14

Probably been to 300 basketball games in my life. I mean, just love it. And I I did my undergrad at Alabama, so big football school. And I say if there's like a world where Bradley basketball somehow plays Bradley football, you better believe that I'm I'm going for BU on that one. So uh so that was fun, but then but then it's really morphed now, being um in my fifth semester here as a professor. And uh I I I just it's so interesting to see it from the inside. And um, there's a couple things that I think that make Bradley special, especially for students. Number one, is that every single person in this community wants to see Bradley students succeed. And it the nice thing about it too is it's not really a college town, but it kind of is, right? I mean, it's that's the only college here. Everybody wants to see Bradley students be successful. And so I've had experiences where uh every one of my students has to do a mid-semester project, no matter what the course is, and they'll get CAT execs and the CEO of OSF and these higher-level business people, because when a Bradley student asks for help in the community, the answer is yes. People want to see them do well. Uh, on top of that, number two would be the the rigor and the caliber of students that we have here at Bradley is top-notch. You know, I mentioned I went to Alabama with 35,000 students. I got my MBA at the Kellogg School of Management, number two business school in the country. And some of the students I've had here belong in any room that they should ever be in. And their rigor here is top-notch, I know, because I pick things that I learned at the Kellogg School of Management. I teach it to my undergrad students, and they they hang right with it. It's it's really cool to see. Uh, and then finally, what I think is cool about Bradley is you don't just get it for four years, you get it for life. Uh, at the end of one of all my classes, I give my students my cell number and my personal email address. I I just had coffee Tuesday morning with a former student who's wrestling with some different things in life, wanted to chat. Uh, this past summer I went to a wedding of one of my buddies who went to Bradley. There's a professor there, and this isn't a Peoria wedding. I mean, we're up in Chicago, and the professor, I was like, What are you doing here? He says, Oh, me and me and Andrew stayed in touch and he invited me to his wedding, so here I am. So it's cool that like you don't just come here and then you're done. I mean, you you get Bradley for the rest of your life. It's it's part of your DNA, and uh I I I really love it here.

Angie Cooksy: 4:29

It like actually gave me goose. Yeah, it was really sweet. Um, you mentioned teaching. What what do you teach here?

Travis Weaver: 4:36

Uh so right now I'm teaching three classes uh a management leadership class, a finance course, and then a management and government class, which um I actually have done a little bit of research. I believe it's the only management and government undergrad course being taught by an active state legislator in in the country. Um I asked AI, it confirmed that. I've done some of my own research I confirmed. Sounds like an article for the web. We should—we'll connect after this But you know there's not a lot of management and government classes, and there's not a lot of state legislators that that teach, and so you put those two things together. And here we are. So that that's been really fun. Um and uh yeah, I so I teach a couple classes this semester, and uh it's it's just a blast. Kids are great, the the curriculum's fun. Um I think we're given a lot of latitude to try new things. I think you're a great example of that. And uh yeah, this is what I teach.

Angie Cooksy: 5:26

That's awesome.

Ben Jedd: 5:26

So you've you've been in the classroom now, you said five semesters. Yeah, this is my fifth. Okay, so do you have a student story that really sticks out of a unique experience from a student?

Travis Weaver: 5:38

Totally. Yep. One immediately comes to mind. So my last class of every year, I I do my own last lecture, right? If you're not familiar with the last lecture, it's kind of like put the academics aside, this is just wisdom that I want to impart on my students. And one of the stories I always tell is the story of um Hernan Cortez, uh, how he um, you know, came to the Americas and conquered land. And it's the story of, you know, he arrives and his men get off of the ships, and he says, now light the ships on fire, because if we're going home, we're taking their boats home. And so they do this incredible conquering. It's because there was no backup plan. There was no plan B. They their only way to succeed was by going forward. And so I I push that to my students to say, what are some things in your life that you're kind of let lingering as backup plans that are actually crutches that are keeping you from accomplishing your full potential? So that's my last lecture. That's one of my last things I leave them with. Then in my final exam, I get a note from this student that says, Professor Weaver, I'm 10 days sober from alcohol because of your burn the ships speech. And we ended up chatting after, and she wasn't like, you know, a problem alcoholic, right? I mean, she's 22 years old, but she had worked at a bar. And so the alcohol became a big part of her social life, and she was kind of drinking every night when she would go to work, and she was like, I just need to burn this. I just need to learn how to say, no, this is not serving me. I'm done with it. And so those are just the type of things where you you never know what you say to a student that will matter, but then things come back, and I I have a file called my smile file, where you hear from students and they're like, You changed my life with this one thing, or you made me think differently about that. And that's what makes it all that's what makes it all worth it. That's what makes it so special.

Angie Cooksy: 7:17

Yeah, that's amazing. Um I wanted to shift gears, but I'm like so caught up in that story, so I needed a second. Um You mentioned being one of the only you know legislators that that is teaching. I think a lot of people want to know what do you do?

Ben Jedd: 7:38

I was totally gonna ask, like, what do you do?

Angie Cooksy: 7:42

Um I mean in the kindest way.

Ben Jedd: 7:46

I have seen you in multiple parades. I want you to know that. So that's awesome.

Travis Weaver: 7:51

Yeah. So hopefully my wife's listening because she often asks, What do you do? And this would be a good answer for her.

Angie Cooksy: 7:56

We can send her the podcast.

Ben Jedd: 7:58

That's totally going to be my next question.

Travis Weaver: 8:00

Yeah. So it's a great question because um the Illinois legislature is considered full-time hybrid. So it can be a full-time job, but it doesn't necessarily need to be. So we have members of the General Assembly that are doctors, lawyers, business owners, uh, you name it, uh, we've got people that are still active police officers and active firemen. So you can definitely do two things. So that's one thing I love about being at Bradley is I've got capacity to do more. You know, it could be a full-time job for some it is, but I I like to have something outside of politics because gosh, politics just gets so heavy. And I love parking that at the door, going to be with my students, and just talking about anything else for a little while. So uh as a state legislator, I've I've got a couple jobs. Um, number one is to to draft legislation, which I've got probably 30 of my own active bills and I'm trying to get passed that are mine. Uh, we obviously vote on legislation, so we'll vote on um 600 or so bills uh every single year. Um, you know, we got to study those, learn their impacts, try to make a decision that's the best for the people that I represent. But then the funnest thing, in my opinion, is what we call constituent services. And it's got nothing to do with the letter behind your name or your politics, it's just about helping people. So somebody calls and says, Hey, I filed my state income taxes and I'm not getting them back. What's the deal? Or, hey, a great example, I had a young lady who's been spending 18 months trying to get her license to become a funeral director. She'd passed her classes, the state was just taking forever with her licensing. So we can help in those instances. You know, we we work on getting roads repaved, we work on getting grants to help our nonprofits. So it the constituent service is the fun part because you vote on a bill and you know it impacts people, but very rarely do you meet somebody that says, Oh my gosh, this one bill changed my life. As opposed to if you can unblock uh an issue in state government, that really is fulfilling because now you can see from my position I was able to help this person get the the the services that they need or get get whatever worked out for them.

Angie Cooksy: 9:55

Yeah. Connecting the work that you you're doing in in the state to the work that you're doing in the classroom, how do you see this generation of students getting involved in either in politics or just in the humanity of being active, uh in life, of of you know, being present in this in this world that we live in?

Travis Weaver: 10:20

Well, I often say that this next generation gives me a lot of inspiration.

Angie Cooksy: 10:24

Yeah.

Travis Weaver: 10:24

Um, and part of that is because, you know, every generation, I think since the beginning of time has scared the generations prior to it. I mean, think about like the Beatles and record players and the automobile and how they're gonna and television, how it's gonna ruin society. And I fall guilty of that too, where I'm like, oh my gosh, TikTok and Snapchat. Like, I'm 33 and I'm already like a full generation or two behind on the social media. I thought that I would be older before I was behind. So anyway, it can kind of be scary because it's it's very different. But then you go sit down with them, and this generation is so um, I think, interested in in being engaged. They want to make a difference. I think they're they really want to be a virtuous generation, and I think that they're gonna need to be because uh AI is just gonna totally change the way that we operate. Yeah. Um, so a couple of things I try to accomplish in every one of my classes is bridging this gap between uh theory and practice. So we learn things in a classroom, but then that there can be kind of this disconnect of what does it look like to apply that. So we try to bridge that with doing lectures mixed with some activities. But then the second thing that we do is I really try to not focus on teaching facts. Because if you're just gonna be successful in knowing facts, you're not gonna be successful because AI is gonna be a hundred times better at you than knowing every single fact possible immediately and how it's adapting. So, what we try to learn in in my class is what I try to teach is how do we think, how do we apply, and how do we adapt. Because I think that those are things that AI can't do of you know, let's say you want to come out with a new beverage company, right? Like you got this energy drink and you want to come out with it. If you're just trying to do market research of what's the market size and what have people said and what's the science, AI is gonna do it in two seconds. What way AI can't do is go into a grocery store, have a conversation with a customer, um, go meet with a supplier, um, find out and negotiate with that supplier of how you can get better pricing. So that's what I think this generation is gonna need to learn is is not in which I think is exciting because typically, if you're gonna be successful, maybe you're sitting at your desk a long time doing a lot of research, but now you get to go have adventures. And I try to remind myself the root word of the word question is quest. So anytime you're asked a question, you got to go on this journey and find things out. And for this next generation to go find things out, it means you are literally going and doing the work. You know, AI can't turn a wrench, AI can't go have a conversation with a potential customer. So I think that's what they need to learn. I think that Bradley is actually doing a really nice job adapting to provide that of helping to make people really strong, community-minded citizens, not just people that know whatever their textbook tells them they need to memorize.

Angie Cooksy: 13:02

Yeah.

Ben Jedd: 13:02

I think that's an awesome analysis of AI and how it's going to impact our learning. So I think that's I think that's really great. Um, so I I hear a lot in the community um, what's good for the Peoria area is good for Bradley, what's good for Bradley is good for the Peoria area. As someone who represents the Peoria area, what does that mean to you and and what influence how how can Bradley be a better partner for the community?

Travis Weaver: 13:30

Yeah, so I this is such a good question because the first time I met Angie, I told her she's one of the most important people in Peoria, and she truly is.

Angie Cooksy: 13:37

No pressure.

Travis Weaver: 13:39

I'll explain why. So Peoria has four awesome economic engines that many communities would kill to have. We've got awesome manufacturing with CAT and Komatsu, we've got world-class hospitals with OSF and Carle, we've got some of the world's best farm ground, and we have Bradley University. And the other three are industries. Bradley is a standalone single thing that's bringing a thousand new, interested, young, energized minds into our community. That that is really a unique opportunity to have. So the reason I say you're so important is because it's your job to make sure that that grows. Yeah. And so uh Bradley is such an important pillar to this community. And that's why, you know, we started off this podcast, and I said everybody in this community wants to see Bradley students be successful because I think that so many leaders in this community know that Peoria's success is dependent on how many of those bright young minds Bradley can bring in every year. And so much of Bradley's success is dependent on how much can Peoria grow and by means then be able to donate back and be able to provide a pretty Main Street and have nice restaurants and have the things that make people want to come to Bradley. Exactly. So it's really this give and take where you you can't have a successful one without a successful other.

Angie Cooksy: 14:52

Yeah. Yeah. I I there was um, I don't know, there's always those like rankings and and things, and and Peoria was just on one of them as sort of like one of the up-and-coming or best places for like young professionals to live and and learn and grow. And I I think that's totally kind of aligned with what you're saying. And that's one of the things I'm so excited about about this job is not only bringing young people here, but having that relationship with the city that then they want to get jobs here and stay here and build families here and and live here in central Illinois. You know, that's that's awesome if people from all over the country make their home here. There's great things here in central Illinois.

Travis Weaver: 15:33

Yeah, I I love I'm totally biased. I'm a hometown kid. But uh, you know, I've seen other places. I went to a big SEC school, I went to a top-notch uh Big Ten school for my masters, and I'm I'm picking Peoria, I'm picking Bradley. This is a this is a really unique place. And I think anywhere you go, people can say, Oh, there's nothing to do here. Well, do you go try? I mean, you can you can live in London and say, oh, there's nothing fun to do. I can't make any friends. I mean, you gotta have some initiative to go out. And and if you do, we've got we've got awesome entertainment. The the Peoria Civic Center um was a top 50 uh arena for attendance in the country last year, and a top 50 theater for attendance in the country last year. So there's great acts coming through. There's amazing restaurants. I mean, uh Ardor Connected, Jim's. I mean, there's amazing restaurants here. Um, there's a fun nightlife because of Bradley University. So that there's fun to be found in Peoria, but uh you might have to look a little bit, but it's it's not hard.

Angie Cooksy: 16:32

You have to go on a quest.

Travis Weaver: 16:33

You have to go on a quest.

Angie Cooksy: 16:35

I mean, I mean you can decline, but um, since you're highlighting some of the fun things, like what's your favorite restaurant in Peoria or what's your favorite thing to do?

Travis Weaver: 16:44

I love Jim's Bistro.

Angie Cooksy: 16:45

I love Jim's Bistro. I love the chicken salad.

Travis Weaver: 16:48

Yeah, it's it's great. Uh, they got a great fillet. Uh I'm supposed to make a reservation today. I'm so late on Valentine's Day.

Angie Cooksy: 16:56

Oh my gosh. Now I hope your wife isn't listening.

Travis Weaver: 16:58

Well, we were hoping to go.

Ben Jedd: 16:59

You should really give a point to Jim's Bistro here.

Travis Weaver: 17:02

Yeah. Uh yeah, I we would like to have a reservation. Uh so I love that. And I I, you know, I hate to single out Bradley basketball because I love soccer and I love baseball and I love women's basketball. Like it's all great. Yeah. But there's just something about, you know, when you can pack out Carver Arena with 11,000 Peorians and this team's doing well, and a community that's 150,000, you get 11,000 of them together behind a common goal and things are going well.

Angie Cooksy: 17:29

That's loud.

Travis Weaver: 17:29

It just ripples throughout the entire central Illinois community. And uh, it's something that can be really special. And and it has been, thankfully, for about a decade or so, they've been really competitive.

Angie Cooksy: 17:40

Yeah, next Saturday is gonna be a big game.

Travis Weaver: 17:41

Big game.

Angie Cooksy: 17:42

ISU Bradley at home.

Ben Jedd: 17:43

Yeah, War on 74.

Angie Cooksy: 17:45

War on 74, make it loud.

Ben Jedd: 17:46

All right, so I have I have a question for you, unrelated to Bradley. Um will Alabama football be playing for the national title soon?

Travis Weaver: 17:56

Oh man. It's such a hard question because um NIL has changed things so dramatically. Yeah. And I some for the better. I mean, I think it's important that you know, if people are if their name image like this is being leveraged, they have a right to be earning part of that. But but the downfall of that is you get so much turnover that's just hard to learn these teams. So um Alabama, every college team has 105 players on their roster. Um Alabama just is getting like 55 new players next year. So the entire over half of the team is new. Um, and I I hope that they get it all figured out um because I think that we can make college sports better.

Ben Jedd: 18:35

It's gotta be hard to be a coach right now, right? Like because you're you're not just recruiting new players, you're recruiting your players to stay. Right.

Angie Cooksy: 18:43

So that's like a whole team every year.

Ben Jedd: 18:46

Every year.

Angie Cooksy: 18:46

That's crazy.

Travis Weaver: 18:47

Yeah. But you know what? The beauty of it is we got Alex Subricks out of it, and he was on fire on against Belmont on Monday. He hit a three that I think hit a rafter. I mean, it went so high and splattered. We tied 80, 80.

Ben Jedd: 19:00

That was such an awesome game. That was such an awesome game.

Angie Cooksy: 19:04

Um, yes, that was fantastic.

Travis Weaver: 19:07

Um, I'm totally fanboy now.

Angie Cooksy: 19:11

Uh go, I mean, going back to your you know, row of weavers, I do you have like, is there somebody that's like a yeller at the game? Like, are you guys quiet fans? Are you engaged fans?

Travis Weaver: 19:23

Since I've um become an elected office and gotten a smidge quieter.

Angie Cooksy: 19:29

A smidge quieter, yeah.

Travis Weaver: 19:30

Yeah, but one of my favorite things, I and I just said this at the Belmont games with the guy I was sitting next to on Monday. It's so fun when you get these tight games in the second half, yeah, and you see politicians and business owners and people on the big boards that are like jumping up and screaming and telling the ref their business. And I'm like, oh, only in Peoria do you have like the highest profile people, like shouting at the top of their lungs.

Angie Cooksy: 19:51

Everybody turns into a 15-year-old.

Ben Jedd: 19:52

I I was I my seats are right behind the opposing team's bench, and I'm yelling, and my buddy and I have season tickets. He's sitting next to he's like, hey Ben, you're at work, sort of.

Angie Cooksy: 20:06

That's true. That is true.

Travis Weaver: 20:08

Um, that's great.

Angie Cooksy: 20:10

What is something that people might not know about you or your Bradley experience?

Travis Weaver: 20:13

That's a great question. Um, well, I mentioned a couple things, just like growing up, but you know, my dad uh was an alum class of '76, maybe. Um was a fraternity brother to President Shadid. That'd be a little known fact. Um and you know, to what I mentioned about it's not Four Years, it's For Life, him and that class are still really, really tight. I mean, some of his best friends remain people that that he went to Bradley with. Um yeah, so it it sticks with you.

Angie Cooksy: 20:40

It does. Well, we ask the same question to everybody as we wrap up the show. And so if you've listened to the show before, you know what the question is, but we get the same response usually every time we ask it. Um, we talk a lot about what people making Bradley so special. And so to put you on the spot a little bit, what makes you, Travis Weaver, unapologetically, what are you unapologetically exceptional at?

Travis Weaver: 21:03

Uh I I I think, you know, it's it's hard because it's hard to talk about yourself, but I think the things that we do in my classroom are really special. I think some of the relationships that I build with my students are really are really special. And so, you know, being a 33-year-old, um, teaching 22-year-olds, and there's not a big gap. Right. And I really just try to be totally transparent and authentic about challenges that I faced in my life. And um, I think that's why I've been able to foster a relationship with students because I think when people see authenticity, it inspires authenticity. And in my classrooms, we get we get really open, and there's some times where I'm like, oh boy, I I don't know how we got on this subject, but I'm loving it. But I'm also trying to be like, this is kind of a touchy subject that we're that we're getting into. So um I'm so proud of my students that we've been a lot of times really able to wade into some um controversial waters, and I just shut up and listen. And so I'm really proud that I get to create that environment for my students and uh I think it makes the courses that I have really exceptional.

Ben Jedd: 22:06

I love that. It's cool.

Angie Cooksy: 22:07

Anything you'd like to add before we wrap up today?

Travis Weaver: 22:09

No, I I'm I'm just uh so honored to be here and uh let's go BU. Let's let's let make Bradley the the shining star that we all know that it can be.

Angie Cooksy: 22:17

That's awesome.

Ben Jedd: 22:18

Thank you so much. This has been great.

Angie Cooksy: 22:19

So fun. Come back anytime.

Travis Weaver: 22:21

Thanks, guys.

Angie Cooksy: 22:22

That wraps up another episode of the Bradley University Podcast. We shoot in Hillstop Hilltop Studios, which is in the lower level of University Hall. Um, if you want to come on the show, as always, you can message Ben. And uh we'll see you next time.

Ben Jedd: 22:36

Bye bye.