Since at least 1940, Thai students have been attending the University of Illinois. Early Thai Illini have included architects, chemical engineers, civil engineers, educational psychologists, electrical engineers, historians, librarians, mechanical engineers, and transfer students too, to name a few.

Read on to learn more about early Thai Illini!

Missionary Families, Missionary Guest Speakers, and Diplomats

Before the first Thai students enrolled in the University, University community connections with Thailand had already begun. First, perhaps, it may be 1891 when Mrs. Katharine Arzinger (nee Lewis), (A.B. Literature and Arts, 1912; B.L.S. 1915) was born to Chicago-based medical doctor Henry Foster Lewis and Mrs. Minnie Dows Naa of Bangkok [1]. After attending a boarding school in Bangkok, Mrs. Minnie Lewis came to the United States to study in higher education. Later, she met Mr. Lewis and they raised a family in Chicago. [2] After graduation, Mrs. Arzinger was the librarian of the Bennett Medical College (which had recently joined the medical school at Loyola University Chicago) before graduation from the Illinois library program. In fact, Mrs. Arzinger was a significant librarian in Illinois library history and she was even elected President of the Illinois Library Association (ILA) in 1939. [3]

When Mrs. Arzinger was elected President of the ILA, Mr. Warren G. Fuller, (B.A. French, 1942) began his undergraduate studies at Princeton University before transferring to Illinois and graduating with a foreign language degree, before embarking on a long distinguished career in diplomacy. [4] In fact, Mr. Fuller was born into a Presbyterian missionary family living in Bangkok. After graduation, Mr. Fuller served in the U.S. military during World War Two. After his military service, Mr. Fuller worked for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, the International Refugee Organization, the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration in Brazil, Paraguay, and Italy, as well as a Director of the Latin America Regonal Office of the U.S. Peace Corps. Not long before his graduation, Mr. Fuller’s mother, Mrs. Graham Fuller, came to town and spoke about her missionary experiences in Thailand.

After World War One and again After World War Two, a variety of guests came to Champaign-Urbana to speak about their careers in Thailand and Asia. On the one hand, there were former diplomats. In 1924, former United States Minister to Thailand (and former Director of the Pan American Union) John Barrett gave a talk on foreign trade for a local Republican political event off-campus at the Urbana-Lincoln Hotel. On the other hand, there were other later missionaries too. In 1955, former University YWCA Executive Director Zerna Volz spoke about her three-year service in Thailand.

World War Two

At the same time as when the United States had entered World War Two, Thailand had entered the war too, resulting in a complicated legal situation for Thai students studying in the U.S.. Fortunately for one group of students at MIT, they were able to continue their studies in civil engineering at the University of Illinois. Mr. Udom Bhasavanich, (B.S. Civil Engineering, 1942) had already enrolled in the University in 1940. After graduation, Mr. Bhasavanich remained at the University until the end of the war. He was active in the multi-cultural student organization Cosmopolitan Club, and during academic year 1946-1947, Mr. Bhasavanich was active in soccer too. Mr. Somporn Punyagupta was Director and Master of Ceremonies for the 1953 Thai Night. Mr. Jaroch Losuvalna completed a Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering with his research thesis “A dimensionless reciprocal relation between forces and displacements as applied to mechanical vibrations” in 1946. The following year, in 1947, the University hosted a group of thirty engineers on a national tour preceding a year-long program to studying U.S. irrigation and reclamation projects, dry land farming methods, as well as rice, sugar cane, cotton, and tobacco production.

Post War Thai Illini

At least as early as 1920, the University Library was developing a Thai language collection in cooperation with the National Library of Thailand. By 1947, that relationship had developed to include hosting the first Thai Illini woman and the first Thai Illini library student Ms. Rabieb Tantranon (B.S. Library Science, 1948 ; M.A. History, 1950).

Sponsored by a grant from the American Association of University Women, Chulalongkorn University graduate Ms. Tantranon completed a B.S. in Library Science. As a student, Ms. Tantranon gave a campus panel talk about library service in Thailand too. After graduation, Ms. Tantranon continued her studies in the library school’s graduate program but she completed a graduate degree in History while working in the Library’s Acquisitions Department. [5] Following graduation, Ms. Tantranon married Mr. Albert Jackson Saur, (M.S. Physics, 1947; PhD Physics, 1951) and they relocated to the University of Arkansas.

During the 1950s, Thai student enrollment increased and the earliest Thai cultural events were organized on campus. In 1956, the first Thai Night was organized. In 1955, Ms. Sinee Sinadyodharaks (M.Arch, 1956) gave a talk about the role of education and the status of women in Thailand with other South East Asian student panelists, for the American Association of University Women International Relations group. Other students, like Mr. Wasan Supachana, 1958, were active in campus-wide debates regarding racism in the United States, including a talk with other foreign students at the 1957 “Worldwide Significance of Discrimination in the United States Conference“.

During the 1960s, Thai student enrollment continued to increase and soon a registered student organization Thai Students Association would be formed. [6] At the same time, Thailand’s Chiang Mai University held its first medical classes in 1960 and by 1962 Chiang Mai University had initiated a formal relationship with the University of Illinois College of Medicine. [7] The Chiang Mai Project was supported by the United States State Department’s Agency for International Development (AID), with the goal of assisting Chiang Mai University to develop a higher education medical institution to serve the medical needs of rural Thailand.

Student Organization and Student Organizations

Since 1971, Thai students have formed at least three different student organizations at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. While some groups have lasted for solely one year, other groups have organized for many years. In particular, Thai Students Association (1971 – Present) is one such outstanding group. [8]

Thai Night

1956 might have been the year of the first student-organized Thai Night. Coinciding with the annual Thai New Year, the annual spring event features traditional dances, food, music, and other student performances. Originally organized through the University YMCA and YWCA, today, the Thai Students Association continues to organize this event open to the public.

Thai Students Association

By the 1970s, the Thai student population had grown large enough that the Thai Students Association was founded to meet the many needs of Thai students and University community members interested in the cultures of Thailand. Since 1971, the Thai Students Association has provided social support for Thai students and information for anyone interested. Complementing the pre-TSA annual Thai Illini student-organized Thai Night, some later TSA events have included barbecues, group dinners, new student welcome events, sports days, the annual Songkran Merit Ceremony (the Thai New Year in mid-April) and the annual Loy Krathong Festival (in November).

Are you a Thai Illini? Do you know someone who is? We’d like to hear from you! Please send us a message or leave a comment below. We want to include you and your story, as we celebrate the first 150 years of the University of Illinois.

Happy First 150 everyone!

References

[0] In the Daily Illini, for one month in November of 1930, there was a short-lived, humorous conversation between writers in poetic meter. The conversation was a euphemism for a local conversation between two students. In the poems, one student is described as the “Lady from Siam” (now Thailand), while the second student is described as “the friar”. (Please note that student humor writings can be representative cultural remnants of their time and that such ephemeral works do not necessarily represent attitudes or opinions of University community members today).

[0] For an overview of the Protestant Church in Thailand, please see: McLean, Patricia. (2002). Thai  Protestant Christianity: A Study of Cultural and Theological Interactions between Western Missionaries (the American Presbyterian Mission and the Overseas Missionary Fellowship) and Indigenous Thai Churches (the Church of Christ in Thailand and the Associated Churches of Thailand-Central). Dissertation.

[1] For Mrs. Arzinger’s biography, please see: “Katharine Lewis”, The Semi-Centennial Alumni Record of the University of Illinois, Edited by Franklin W. Scott, Urbana: University of Illinois, 1918, p. 463; for Mr. Lewis’ biography, please see: Theta Delta Chi, The Shield, Volume 14. Two photographs of Mrs. Minnie Dows Naa can be accessed through Miami University’s Walter Havighurst Special Collection and Archives‘ “Western College Missionaries Collection” in Box 1, Folder 4.

[2] “Woman’s Presbyterian Foreign Missionary Society of Northern New York”, Woman’s Work for Woman and Our Mission Field, New York, New York: Women’s Foreign Missionary Societies of the Presbyterian Church, 1885, p. 18.

[3] For Mrs. Arzinger’s Bennett Medical position announcement, please see: “1912” The Alumni Quarterly of the University of Illinois, Volume 9, Issue 1, p. 60; for her history of the Trinity Episcopal community of Geneseo, Illinois, please see: “Trinity Episcopal”, by Katherine L. Arzinger, Geneseo Centennial History, 1836-1936, Historical Committee of the Geneseo Centennial Association p. 32; for her ILSA President election announcement, please see: “Professional Activities”, University of Illinois Bulletin, Volume XXXVI, Number 80, p.5.

[4] Fuller, Warren G. “Brazil: Peace Corps Expands in a Giant Land”, Peace Corps Volunteer, September 1965, p. 5-7.

[5] “Class of 1948”, University of Illinois Bulletin, Volume 45, Number 21, November 23, 1947, page 11; “Class of 1948 (August Graduates)”, University of Illinois Bulletin, Volume 46, Number 34, December, 1948, page 33.

[6] For a contemporary perspective on U.S. and Thailand relations during the early 1960s, please see: “”Naval Officer Tell Views: Veteran of Asia Wishes to Return“, by Kay Overton, The Daily Illini, May 27, 1961, page 3.

[7] An overview of the program could be understood from the publications. Please see: “Chiang Mai Project Publications, 1970-” (Record Series 52/1/835). For an overview of the project from Office of International Programs and Studies, please see: “Overseas Project Director’s Subject File, 1959-80” (Record Series 24/2/9). Also be sure to see the International Programs and Studies Director’s files, and please see: “Director’s Subject File, 1959-79” (Record Series 24/2/5). Also be sure to see the Anthropology Professor Clark E. Cunnigham Papers (Record Series 15/2/31) as well as this Daily Illini editorial about his experiences. Finally, the University of Illinois at Chicago’s University Archives has records too. Please see: “Chancellor-Committees-Committee on Overseas Projects Records”, (Record Series 099-03-10-03).

[8] Two other Thailand-oriented, student organizations have included “Committee on Thai Studies” (1976) and “Thai American Insight” (1998).