Forever Friends

Then and now (left to right): Denise Perry,Julie (Bagans) Kuhn, Laura (Wasson) Warfel, Callye (Hunt) Gibbons and Jean (Wittenauer) Steinbrenner. In the recreation of the photo, Gibbons and Steinbrenner are reversed. (Images by Katie Flynn and courtesy of Laura Warfel)

They arrived at the University of Illinois as strangers, but left as best friends.

Brought together in U. of I.’s Allen Hall during a pivotal time in their lives, Callye (Hunt) Gibbons, Julie (Bagans) Kuhn, ’76 LAS, Denise Perry, ’76 LAS, Jean (Wittenauer) Steinbrenner, ’76 MEDIA, and Laura (Wasson) Warfel, ’76 LAS, started college in the fall of 1972.

More than five decades later, their remarkable friendship and tightly knit bond remain strong.

In 2019, the five friends returned to Illinois, something they hadn’t done since the 1976 Commencement. They then did a follow-up visit in 2024 for what Warfel called a “dream campus tour.” Over the course of their visits, they noted the many new buildings under construction and lamented the closure of favorite restaurants and hangouts. But they were happy to see that Papa Del’s is still thriving.

Their 2024 visit found them walking through Illini Union, reflecting on how everything looked familiar, yet admitting to being intrigued by the building’s McKinley Health Center Self-Care Stations, which provide over-the-counter, non-prescription pharmacy supplies.

But Gibbons, Kuhn, Perry, Steinbrenner and Warfel were most excited to visit Allen Hall. Gibbons, for example, raved about the transformation of Allen Hall’s dining services. “It was so nice in the cafeteria, having cozy spots and small tables—not just long tables like when we were there,” she says.

They debated whether the rooms seemed smaller or felt the same all these years later, but Warfel swears some of the building features haven’t changed at all. “The tile on the [bathroom] walls has stood the test of time,” she says. “And the mailboxes are still the same.”

Earlier this year, University Housing brought the group together via Zoom to talk about their reunions and reminisce about life in Allen Hall, sharing laughs and offering sage advice for current and future Illinois students.

“The beauty of Allen Hall—the beauty of dorm living and random roommates—is that it opens your world to a lot of different people,” Gibbons says. “I don’t think you can really know about yourself until you are out and independent from your family.”

Although they all ended up living on the same floor, it took a couple of room changes to bring the five together. But it was their proximity to one another that sparked their friendship.

L-R: Callye (Hunt) Gibbons; Laura (Wasson) Warfel; and Denise Perry. (Images courtesy of Laura Warfel)

“We all had our separate classes and other activities on campus, but [it was] our dorm life that drew us all together. We were more bonded with the people whom we lived with than the people we saw in our classes.” —Laura Warfel

“We all had our separate classes and other activities on campus, but [it was] our dorm life that drew us all together,” Warfel says. “We were more bonded with the people whom we lived with than the people we saw in our classes.”

Steinbrenner agrees, saying it’s hard not to form a bond when living together in a residence hall. “You’re there for every crisis,” she says. “It’s such a turbulent time in your life where a lot happens. You’re in the bathroom crying, and you end up talking to somebody for an hour. Everything happens, you’re all right there together, and you all share it.”

Steinbrenner says she “loved the communal bathroom” because it led to so many random, but sometimes significant, interactions that brought people closer together. “We were right on top of each other, and it would be hard not to share who you are.”

“For many of us, this was the first time we were away from our parents,” Warfel says. “We were figuring out life on our own agenda, as well as the paths we were going to follow.”

The vibe in Allen Hall was very open and friendly, making it easy to develop relationships with the people who lived around them. These five friends recalled the hall’s lounges and common spaces as being popular places to hang out. At the time, students didn’t have televisions and computers in their rooms, so they often gathered in lounges to watch popular soap operas and major news events.

Many of the safety issues and protocols in the 1970s weren’t as stringent as they are today. These longtime friends recall Allen Hall as a place where residents often kept their doors open during waking hours, which led to a lot of spontaneous conversations and social interactions.

Warfel said the room she shared with Gibbons was the first place people would pass on their way to and from the dining hall. “Everybody would make a stop in our room for either five minutes or five hours,” she says.

They also recalled the many activities and events held for residents, some in conjunction with the newly launched Unit One, a living-learning community that was then unique to Allen Hall. The program provided on-site, credit-granting courses and academic support, including on-staff academic directors, academic coordinators and faculty.

“Unit One brought us all together,” Warfel says of their experience being participants in the program’s first year. “They worked really hard to get people from a lot of different majors and backgrounds, bringing them all together to see if it would work!”

Gibbons says there were a number of benefits to being part of Unit One. “The ability to undertake independent study with professors when we were just freshmen … exploring our own interests and creative efforts. That was really awesome.”

Unit One’s artists-in-residence program was a standout. Kuhn says she’ll never forget seeing jazz musician Chick Corea eating in the dining hall and then being “five feet away when he played piano.”

More than five decades later, Unit One is still thriving as one of 10 living-learning communities located throughout Illinois residence halls.

At the time, Allen Hall also was unique as Illinois’ only coed residence hall. “That was pretty crazy for all of our parents!” Warfel says.

“I don’t think I ever told my parents about it,” Perry says, drawing a laugh from the group.

L-R: Denise Perry and Callye (Hunt) Gibbons; Jean (Wittenauer) Steinbrenner; and Julie (Bagans) Kuhn. (Images courtesy of Laura Warfel)

Living together in a residence hall, “you’re there for every crisis. It’s such a turbulent time in your life where a lot happens. You’re in the bathroom crying, and you end up talking to somebody for an hour. Everything happens, you’re all right there together, and you all share it.” —Jean Steinbrenner

Steinbrenner believes their group of friends is forever connected by generational things specific to the early ’70s.

Within the group, they had other overlapping interests. They all had faith as part of their background, but now each is on her own faith journey. Warfel called music “a big connector” for her with Kuhn and Steinbrenner. Perry remembered “discovering” singer-songwriter Harry Chapin with Kuhn, and they were both members of the Marching Illini.

Despite these shared interests, Kuhn believes the group’s decades-long friendship was largely a circumstance of place. “Had the five of us met somewhere different, I don’t think any of this would have happened,” Kuhn says. “We’re all very different people.”

After two years in Allen Hall, Gibbons moved to Arkansas with her family and transferred to a college there. The rest of the group shared an apartment, relying on Perry’s car to help them explore Champaign-Urbana. “Anything we saw of the town was compliments of Denise and her orange Pinto,” Kuhn says.

After graduation, all five went their separate ways, but they remained in touch as they built their careers and started families.

Gibbons still lives in Arkansas. Steinbrenner now resides in New York State; she set aside a career in editorial and analytical work to raise four daughters. Warfel, a freelance writer and editor, lives on the Illinois side of the St. Louis border.

Perry stayed in the area, living in Champaign, Urbana and Savoy at various points, working for many years at WILL radio and TV.

Kuhn lives in the Chicago suburbs after stints in San Diego and New Jersey. She recently retired after a career as an engineer. As a student at Illinois, she was one of only three women studying physics.

In reflecting upon their residence hall experience, the group talked about occasional struggles that can come from being in a new setting. But they also came to realize the importance of adapting to change as an essential life skill.

Steinbrenner mentions the challenge of being a morning person surrounded by night owls, and she encourages incoming students to communicate about their lifestyles to find roommates on similar schedules.

Gibbons remembers how a few students struggled with unstructured time, noting “you can go wild, easily,” but says she loved that sense of freedom.

But they all agree that having the chance to meet and live with people from different backgrounds is an essential part of college—and life—experience.

“I think a beauty of [residence hall] living is that you have to learn some skills about living with other people,” Kuhn says, “…the exposure to different types of people, different perspectives, different upbringings.”

The one-time Allen Hall residents prove that exposure to different people and perspectives leads to new, unexpected friendships and lifelong connections. “Many folks I know who were not living on campus missed a whole lot of that connection,” Gibbons says. “It makes a huge difference.”

Warfel agrees. “I think from day one you’re looking for that place where you fit, where people accept you and where you’re in your lane,” she says. “When you find that, it makes all the difference.”