Category Archives: University of Illinois

GEO Bargaining: “The University Works When We Do”

Posted on 10/06/2025 by Kathleen McGowan

The research assistants (RAs) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have officially joined GEO, the Graduate Educators Organization (GEO Local 6300 IFT/AFT AFL-CIO) at UIUC. The organization now represents teaching assistants (TAs), graduate assistants (GAs), pre-professional graduate assistants (PGAs), and … Continue reading →

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October Issue Back Cover

Posted on 10/05/2025 by Public i

Friday Forum + Conversation Café Fall 2025 Series Please join the University YMCA and Diversity & Social Justice Education for our Fall 2025 Friday Forum + Conversation Café series. We will hear from community leaders tackling our most pressing public concerns through an … Continue reading →

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UIUC Engineering Open House

Posted on 08/20/2025 by Alen Romero

This year the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Engineering Open House 2025 was expecting 40,000 visitors April 4 and 5. Designed to showcase the talents and research of students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields, the theme this year … Continue reading →

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Nuclear Power in the Trumpian Deregulatory Era

Posted on 08/20/2025 by Paul Mueth

With the Trump-era onslaught and so many problematic circumstances to deal with in the power-production and -distribution system, the nuclear-power issue perhaps seems not necessarily top of many people’s and organizations’ concerns. Both at the national and the local level, … Continue reading →

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Posted in Climate crisis, Environment, Environment, Nuclear Power, Section, University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Nuclear Power in the Trumpian Deregulatory Era

Belden’s Work in the Union of Professional Employees and Campus Faculty Association

Posted on 06/30/2025 by Al Kagan

I worked closely with Belden in the Union of Professional Employees (UPE) and later in the Campus Faculty Association (CFA). UPE voted to change its name to CFA in 2007. This article is an attempt to reconstruct Belden’s work in … Continue reading →

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Posted in Academy on Capitalism and Limited Government, In Memoriam, labor, Labor/Economics, Section, union soldarity, University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Belden’s Work in the Union of Professional Employees and Campus Faculty Association

ACLU Warns U of I to Respect Free Speech

Posted on 02/23/2025 by Jane McClintock

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Illinois recently sent an open letter to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign warning administrators that new guidelines surrounding “expressive activities” are having a chilling effect on student expressions of free speech. Despite UIUC’s … Continue reading →

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Posted in Censorship, Climate Activism, Environment, Gaza, Section, Students, University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Voices | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on ACLU Warns U of I to Respect Free Speech

Mob Action Charges Against Activists for Pro-Palestinian Encampment at UIUC

Posted on 10/18/2024 by Brian Dolinar

As students are returning to university campuses, we are seeing signs of continued support for Palestinians who are enduring an onslaught by Israeli military forces. Here at the University of Illinois, the first week of classes students chalked “DIVEST” on … Continue reading →

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Posted in Gaza, Israel/Palestine, Middle East, Police, Policing, Section, States'Attorney, University of Illinois | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Mob Action Charges Against Activists for Pro-Palestinian Encampment at UIUC

Popular University for Gaza at UIUC

Posted on 07/29/2024 by Clara Belitz and Sana Saboowala and Izzy Grosof

From Friday, April 26 through Friday, May 10, we established a branch of the Popular University for Gaza at UIUC, joining the national student movement for Palestine. This encampment was just one small piece in the long movement for Palestinian … Continue reading →

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The Kingfisher is Flying to Illinois

Posted on 08/27/2023 by The Kingfisher Task Force

In 2007 the UIUC Board of Trustees acknowledged the opposition of faculty, student organizations, and NCAA guidelines prohibiting the use of race-based mascots in intercollegiate athletics, and voted to eliminate “Chief Illiniwek” as the campus mascot. Tired of waiting for … Continue reading →

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UIUC GEO Wins a Progressive Contract

Posted on 07/18/2023 by Essam A. B. Elkorghli

Graduate workers across the US have been hard-hit by the skyrocketing inflation induced by federal mismanagement of monetary policy that is being felt by all too many working-class people. The laughable wage increases that were “handed” to many low-paid workers … Continue reading →

Posted in labor, Labor/Economics, Public Universities, Section, Students, union soldarity, University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Voices | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on UIUC GEO Wins a Progressive Contract

Academic Freedom Cases at the U of I, Part 2

Posted on 02/10/2023 by Belden Fields

In the October/November issue of the Public i, I discussed two cases in which the University faced pressure to dismiss professors because of their speech or extramural writing. These cases go back to the 1960s but have recently been resurrected … Continue reading →

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GEO at UIUC 10 Months into Contract Negotiations

Posted on 02/10/2023 by Karen Medina

As I write this, the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) Local 6300 is 10 months into the contract negotiating process with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign administration. So far there have been 19 bargaining sessions. The GEO presented its proposal … Continue reading →

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Two Academic Freedom Cases at the U of I Revisited

Posted on 11/04/2022 by Belden Fields

Late last year, the University of Illinois Press published Dangerous Ideas on Campus by Matthew Ehrlich. It is an excellent book on two professors at the U of I, one of whom was fired, while the other was not. The … Continue reading →

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Posted in Academic freedom, Censorship, Free Speech, Public Universities, University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Two Academic Freedom Cases at the U of I Revisited

The U of I’s Micro-Modular Reactor Should Be in Another Location

Posted on 03/31/2022 by Bruce Hannon

The University of Illinois wants to install a test nuclear reactor (“micro-modular reactor”) at the Abbott Power Plant on the UIUC campus. It has submitted a letter of intent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) advising that it intends to … Continue reading →

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The University and its Workers during the Pandemic

Posted on 10/27/2020 by Kathryn Oberdeck

The coronavirus pandemic has affected universities all over the country and the world. Different institutions have chosen different approaches, from keeping all courses online and discouraging students from returning (Smith College, Harvard University, etc.) to a full opening of residential … Continue reading →

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COVID-19: Local Responses and Lessons for the Future

Posted on 10/27/2020 by Michael Weissman

The Public i asked Professor Weissman, in light of his involvement with helping doctors with statistics, for his thoughts on the local response to COVID-19 and any lessons learned from it for the future. First, I think it’s more important … Continue reading →

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The Decline of African Languages at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Posted on 10/26/2020 by Fatou Jobe

The University of Illinois used to be one of the best universities for learning African languages. Emeritus professor of Linguistics Eyamba Bokamba would always say, “here in Illinois we offer African languages from A to Z, Arabic to Zulu.” Unfortunately, … Continue reading →

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Disruptive Shift Changes for UIUC Custodial Staff

Posted on 09/06/2020 by Jenni Walkup

Jenni Walkup is a public anthropology MA student at American University who lives in Champaign. She works in education and writes about movements and social change. She’s very good at Bananagrams. In August, 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of … Continue reading →

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SEIU Statement Regarding the Changes in the Building Services Department at UIUC

Posted on 09/06/2020 by Justus Fortado

The University decided in mid-spring that it would reopen for the 2020 fall semester, a decision that would require drastic, “emergency” changes in our department and to the working conditions of SEIU members. Management didn’t notify union leadership until July … Continue reading →

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How to Squander a Research Library

Posted on 06/05/2020 by Al Kagan

The University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign is the largest publicly supported research library in the country; and as far as all university libraries go, only Harvard is bigger. The library holdings are regularly used as an incentive to recruit … Continue reading →

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