Mark Your Calendar For U of I’s 150th

You have until 2017 to get ready for the 150th anniversary of the University of Illinois. The university is making plans for a big, 15-month-long celebration.

The celebration will kick off on February 28th, 2017, marking 150 years since the university was chartered by the Illinois General Assembly under its original name, the Illinois Industrial University.

Associate Chancellor Pradeep Khanna told university trustees at their September 10th meeting that the sesquicentennial will include events at all three campuses, as well as US cities with big concentrations of Illinois alums.

“Similarly,” adds Khanna, “they’ll be held in countries across the world: China, India, South Korea, Japan, Brazil. Countries that have sent a large number of students to us, and where our alumni have played a major role in transforming the economies and societies of those countries.”

Khanna says the celebration will include a wide variety of events, “from cultural events, museum exhibitions and even a special composition for the Altgeld chimes, to academic conferences, alumni events and public lectures.”

Khanna used his presentation to university trustees to formally request that they officially commemorate the Sesquicentennial at their March 2017 meeting, making their own 150th anniversary as a public body.

The University of Illinois Sesquicentennial wraps up with the May 2018 commencement, marking 150 years since the U of I first held classes.

There’s already a website for the celebration (http://150.illinois.edu), where alumni are involved to send in their stories, photos and videos remembering their time at the university.