Illini 411: I assume the U. of I. was originally known simply as the University of Illinois. When was Urbana-Champaign added and why?

A: Actually, the U. of I. was originally called the Illinois Industrial University—a reflection of its land-grant roots as an agriculture and engineering school. The I.I.U. changed its name to the University of Illinois in 1885, to represent its diverse and growing curriculum (and to end assumptions that it was a reform school for wayward children—the university often got letters from overwhelmed parents begging it to accept their juvenile delinquents!). The Big U. officially added the U-C in 1982, at the same time that the U. of I. Chicago Circle and U. of I. Medical Campus merged to form UIC.

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