Read All About It
The Daily Illini was founded in 1871 by the University’s first senior class, as an eight-page literary journal called The Student. Chock full of undergraduate essays on topics such as
Famous Front Pages
The Big Game, 1924 There he was, front and center, above the fold: Harold “Red” Grange, ready to take on the Michigan football team. The occasion was the dedication of
Training Ground
The Daily Illini was the first student newspaper to become a member of the Associated Press and, for much of the 20th century, was regarded as the best college
Alumni Association leaders share their proudest moments
Jim Vermette: Peerless Leader It was the late 1960s and early ’70s, and Jim Vermette, ’60 LAS, recalls the “great change” in America driven by such issues as Vietnam and
Great Sports Moments: The Best Battery in Baseball
In the spring of 1902, the Illini baseball team launched the most ambitious road trip in school history—two weeks on the East Coast, visiting the cream of the college crop:
Being Black At Illinois
When the University of Illinois celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1968, only 1 percent of the student body was Black. African Americans had been on campus for nearly all
Illini 411: Why is there a pineapple at the top of Foellinger Auditorium?
A: Don’t reach for your paring knife just yet—Foellinger’s pineapple is 4-1/2 feet tall and made of copper. In the mid-1980s, when Illinois renovated the nearly 80-year-old building, local contractor
Memory Lane: Surfing the Interwebs
It was a beautiful spring day in 1993, finals only weeks away, and as she had many times that semester, Page Wolf, ’93 MEDIA, walked into Gregory Hall, entered the
Sports Legends: “We Want Dike”
As the greatest all-around athlete in U of I history, Thomas Dwight “Dike” Eddleman, ’49 AHS, excelled in three sports during the mid-to-late 1940s. In football, Eddleman set longstanding records
Illini 411: How many Illinois alumni have won the Oscar for Best Director?
A: One, but he’s done it twice. Ang Lee, ’80 FAA, won Best Director for Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Life of Pi (2012). (He was also nominated for Crouching Tiger,
