CHARLESTON – Lt. Governor Sheila Simon will officially swear in the new members of Eastern Illinois University's Girls State student government in a 7:30 p.m. ceremony tomorrow. Simon, the second woman to hold the position of Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, will also deliver a speech about the importance of women running for office and being a part of the legislative process.
The American Legion Illini Girls State is an EIU program that, since the 1950s, has given young women the chance to participate in a microcosm of state and local government. Students run for offices like governor and mayor, are sworn in and craft legislation. Simon's father, Paul Simon, then a state senator, was a regular speaker at the program during the 1950s. Other speakers from state government have included notable female officeholders like former Lt. Governor Corrine Wood, as well as Govs. James Thompson and Jim Edgar.
The ceremony will take place in the Dvorak Auditorium of the Doudna Fine Arts Center at Eastern Illinois University, 1860 Seventh Street.
TIME: 7:30 p.m.
DATE: Thursday, June 19
LOCATION: Dvorak Auditorium, Doudna Fine Arts Center at Eastern Illinois University, 1860 Seventh Street
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