University of Illinois - Illio Yearbook (Urbana Champaign, IL)

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Ther e were some amusements in those days of no athletics. There was always the ceaseless round of jokes to be played on professors and students. Professor Shattuck ' s desk had an unhappy habit of escaping from its proper quarters and wandering over the building. The boy who ventured to put his head out of a window ran great risks of a shower bath from the window above. After study hours the literary societies and the Students ' Government took all the spare minutes. The two literary societies, Philomathean and Adelphic, came into existence at the same time. Dr. Gregory read the names of the students in chapel, assigning first one to Philo, then one to Adelphic, so the societies started with an equal membership. The meetings were well attended, but no variety was offered in the programmes. Essays, orations and debates were the only things considered in place. The Students Government was formed primarily to maintain order in the dormitory and, as long as the dormitory was in use, was a success, but when the students were scattered, the plan failed and was abandoned. In 1883 the Students ' Government, having ceased to serve any useful purpose, was disbanded. For good or bad the old dormitory stood, until the wrath of the heavens in the form of a small cyclone struck it one dark night, tearing off the roof and throwing down one of the walls. Since that time the students have lived in the private houses of the two towns. Women were first admitted to the University in 1872, when fifty were enrolled. At first they, too, had a dormitory or boarding house, White Hall, as it was called, but before long they were also living in private houses. So from small beginnings our University has grown. When we consider the thorough courses offered here, the increasing number of buildings and students and the broad, generous spirit of the school, we are indeed compelled to say of the founders of this institution that they builded better than they knew. Blinfc Gupifc. They say that love is blind, I wish he were. I can ' t help thinking, though I do not know, That if the mighty Zeus should close the eyes Of little Cupid, I should have more show. W. C. BRENKE: What! keepa week away, seven days and nights I 22