Monthly Archives: February 2015

Hillel: The International Jewish Organization Founded in Champaign

The Hillel Foundation, the largest Jewish student organization in the world, traces its beginnings to the University of Illinois. In 1921, the young Rabbi Benjamin Frankel began serving in Champaign’s Temple Sinai. [1] Meeting the Jewish students on campus, he observed that they were “passively Jewish” [2] without the proper support and community available to allow […]

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Romance and Dance: The Dance Cards of Virginia I. Miller and W. Homer Switzer

As students at the University of Illinois in the mid to late 1930’s, Virginia I. Miller and W. Homer Switzer would often attend dances held by various groups on campus together. The Student Life and Culture Archives recently received a memento of their dances in the form of 35 of their dance cards. Dance cards, […]

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Black Greek Letter Association, Fostering Social Spaces

African-American students at Illinois have been a statistical minority since the early days of the University. Black students constituted a small fraction of the student population, but contribute a distinct diversity of culture and ideas to the campus community. The Black Greek Letter Association (BGLA), a council of African American fraternities and sororities, is a […]

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