Emmy-award-winning actor Nick Offerman is coming to perform at Millikin for the 2025 Goodheart Event.
The 2025 Goodheart Event will be on Saturday, March 8, 2025, at 7:30 p.m.
Offerman is an Illinois native and graduated from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, but you may know Offerman as the firm, yet compassionate Ron Swanson in Parks and Recreation or Bill from The Last of Us.
Junior Kemper Koslofski was excited when he found out Offerman would be performing.
“I was very surprised when I saw the email because I know his name very well, but I read the email and was thinking ‘Oh, this is some speaker coming in,’” Koslofski said. “[But then] I clicked on [the email] and was like ‘Holy cow, that’s Ron Swanson.’”
Bryan Diver, the Director of Kirkland Fine Arts, was instrumental in getting Offerman here and is excited to have him perform at Millikin.
“He is probably what you would consider a humorist more so than a comedian,” Diver said. “So he basically will tell stories about his life and situations. I think that it’ll be interesting for people that may have not seen him before in something other than Parks and Rec. ”
In the past, the Goodheart Event has brought comedians from David Spade to Seth Meyers to Millikin to share their talent with students, free of charge.
But Offerman will be bringing a different kind of performance to the event.
“So it’s not always just a comedian,” Diver said. “It just turns out that comedians are easier to fit into a calendar because [the event is] always added after the calendar has been decided.”
Since Offerman doesn’t fit the stereotype of past Goodheart performers, Millikin students do not know what to expect from this performance. Even with the mystery, students are still excited.
“Ron Swanson, from what I’ve heard, is a very different person than who Nick Offerman is in real life,” Koslofski said. “Whenever I see pictures of Nick Offerman, I think of a guy who’s out in the woods hunting with a shotgun, surviving off the land. I always think it’s interesting to learn more about an actor or an actress, aside from what role they play.”
Diver revealed a small portion of what Offerman will be showcasing.
“He does play guitar, so that is part of his show,” Diver said. “He also plays a ukulele, [but] that kind of depends on the show whether he will use that or not.”
The Goodheart Event was created by Peggy Madden Goodheart in honor of her father.
“[Peggy] wanted to bring in an artist that students would like to see but wouldn’t be able to afford a ticket to,” Diver said.
Millikin wanted to host the Goodheart Event every other year so that they could use more money to get an even bigger artist, but it has proven to be hard to schedule the event.
“Unfortunately, throughout the years, we’ve had some cancellations and different things, and so we’ve skipped a year here and there,” Diver said.
This show is a long time coming. In 2022, Millikin hosted Joel Kim Booster, but since then there has not been another Goodheart Event.
The committee in charge of hosting the event had Nick in mind and had the contract signed last May. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, they had to push his performance back to Spring 2025.
Diver saw Offerman back in 2016, and he had to pay around $100 for the performance. So getting an opportunity to see Offerman for free is a great opportunity.
“It’s just important for [students] to take advantage of this good opportunity,” Diver said. “Because, you know, there’s no real reason for [the Madden family] to continue donating the artist fee for that.”
The tickets are open to the public for $40, but Millikin students, faculty, and staff will receive one free ticket with their Millikin ID and students can purchase three additional tickets for $20 each.
All tickets can be purchased at the Kirkland Ticket Office at Millikin University or over the phone.
