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CARBONDALE, Ill. — I grew up off a gravel road near a town of 60 people, a place where cows outnumber people.
Southern Illinois University, just 40 miles north, opened up my world. I saw my first concerts here, debated big ideas in giant lecture halls and shared dorms with people who looked like no one I’d ever met. Two of my most influential professors came from opposite ends of the political spectrum.
SIU was the only four-year college within reach when I enrolled here in the fall of 2000 — both in miles…