Memory Lane: Matinee Idol
In the 1950s, two decades after the end of his legendary football career with Illinois and the Chicago Bears (1923–34), Harold “Red” Grange was still an icon for kids all across America. But not...
Memory Lane: It’s Showtime!
At Illinois, going to a movie theater in town was once nearly as common as going to class. Chris Alix, ’88 RNG, fondly remembers the high spirits at a midnight showing of Blue Velvet...
The Big Picture: Welcoming normalcy
Alma Mater’s welcoming arms are ever open, even as the campus remains in flux due to the corona- virus pandemic. The 10,000-pound statue, created by sculptor Lorado Taft in 1929, is flanked by attendant...
Ingenious: The magician of BCL
When Heinz von Foerster was a child in Vienna, his grandmother hosted artists, philosophers and politicians, and von Foerster soaked it all in. He brought that same multidisciplinary spirit to Illinois in 1949 as...
Memory Lane: Not Your Dad’s Rec Room
It was an underground scene like no other. Young people, by the dozens—over time, by the hundreds and the thousands—stopping by between classes, skipping classes entirely to be there. Flowing in at all times...
Memory Lane: Mother and Child Reunion
Jeff Wiener, ’99 BUS, made sure that Moms Weekends were memorable for his own mom. Like the year she saw him cackle and wear a pointy black hat onstage as the Wicked Witch of...
Jane’s Restaurant
“You can get anything you want at Jane’s Restaurant.” The year was 1969. Woodstock’s three days of peace and music had made history only months before, and one of the event’s stars, Arlo Guthrie,...
Memory Lane: The Stunt Show
On a Homecoming weekend in the mid-1960s, Bill Lewke, ’66 BUS, gamely played an elephant before thousands of amused parents, students and alumni in Assembly Hall. His fraternity and a sorority staged a funny...
Winning Ways
On a clear day you can see forever. And where better than from the sidelines of Memorial Stadium on a crisp autumn afternoon, as Orange and Blue players swarm the field and the fans pulse...
2019 Athletics Hall of Fame
This fall, the University will induct 16 new members into the UI Athletics Hall of Fame. Athletes and coaches from 11 sports are represented. Among those honored are football greats J.C. Caroline, Bobby Mitchell,...
