Academic Freedom and Free Speech at U of I

The Broyles’ Bills
Clabaugh Act (1947)
The Leo Koch Case
The Fight for Freedom of Speech and Expression in the 1960s

Student Life during the Cold War Era

The GI Bill and the U of I
Sex, Censorship, and the College Scene
Conservatives on Campus
The Black Athlete at the U of I
Women’s Athletics at the University of Illinois

Civil Rights on Campus

The Struggle for Integration in the 1940s and 50s
Affirmative Action at the University of Illinois
Project 500
Second Wave Feminism on Campus
Gay Rights on Campus
Latina/o Students at U of I

Vietnam War Protests

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at U of I
U of I students and the draft
1967 Protest-Sit-In against DOW Chemical
Publication of “Walrus”
October 15, 1969 Moratorium
March 1970 Rally Against GE
March Riots (1970)
May Student Strike (1970)

University Politics

The Rise and Fall of President George D. Stoddard
The U of I and the Defense Department
Surveillance, Discipline and the University of Illinois

Civil Rights on Campus

Students demostrating at a rally opposing racism, ca. 1968.

In the years following the second world war, numerous struggles by minority groups challenged the discriminatory practices of the University of Illinois.  While the primary civil rights battlegrounds for African Americans were located in Southern states, segregation and discrimination was a reality on college campuses, just as it was everywhere else in the United States.  By the 1960s African American students not only began to combat differential treatment in public accommodations and housing, but with Project 500 and Affirmative Action programs they challenged the University of Illinois to create a more inclusive vision for the institution which provided opportunities for minority students and worked to remedy past injustices. 

At Illinois, and around the nation, the self-activity of African Americans inspired other minority groups to wage their own campaigns for recognition and redress.  The feminist movement helped put into law Title IX, which prohibited gender discrimination in higher education. Feminism also energized women at Illinois to create organizations of their own that could combat patriarchy in university institutions.  Also, queer communities on campus organized to pass anti-discrimination ordinances, while Latina/o students established organizations to defend their civil rights and emphasize their political and cultural traditions.