Repository: UIHistories Project: Dedication - Memorial Stadium Drive Book #1 [PAGE 6]

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The S T A D I U M WAY

By ROBERT C, ZUPPKE

LLINOIS needs some material expression of the Illinois Loyalty Spirit for which the institution is famous. This symbol involves service and sacrifice on the part of all the Illini; not of any group or any organization or of any clique, but of each individual. It must be the symbol of an unselfish spirit which shall have for its motive, "serve Illinois" instead of any selfish purpose by which a society, a fraternity, or any person shall be benefiited. The Stadium must be an emblem of clean sportsmanship and lofty ideals, so that every member of any team that represents Illinois in competition or contest with any other group, will think of the fair fame and honor of Illinois, first and foremost, not of himself, and refrain from doing anything that would sully the name of Illinois. These are sentimental reasons, but the practical reasons are as impelling. Unless we have a Stadium which will accommodate the same kind of crowds as are taken care of in the Stadia at Ohio and Michigan and Iowa, we cannot expect the leading conference teams to play on our athletic fields. If Ohio and Michigan receive $40,000 when they play in Chicago, and only $15,000 when they play at Illinois as their share of returns, it is inevitable that they will choose Chicago in preference to Illinois. If Wisconsin and Iowa receive $30,000 as their share of the proceeds when their teams play at Minneapolis and Columbus, how can we expect them to wish to play with us if we can guarantee them only $10,000 ? Next year's schedule in football illustrates this point very clearly. Chicago demanded of Wisconsin a five year contract to play every game on Stagg Field. Wisconsin had to yield to this demand from Chicago's schedule. This is only the beginning. If our students expect to see Illinois in competition with the big teams on Illinois Field, they must provide a place for all the spectators who will come. At the Ohio-Illinois game on Illinois Field last fall thousands were turned away because no room was available for them. A Stadium seating 75,000 people, such as is proposed for our campus, will make it possible for us to invite three times as many people for attendance at Homecoming, for Dad's Day, and the Interscholastie Circus, as we can care for now. And it requires no imagination, and only a little vision, to forsee that within the next decade when the hard roads system of Illinois shall have been in large measure completed, tens of thousands of automobiles driving in for all our games arid all our pageants will bring the Illini, the wh ole people of our state, to view our University. In working for the Stadium our students and alumni will develop a new sense of responsibility to the University; they will be educated in the Illini spirit of service, not only in thought and words, but in deeds as well. It is safe to say that the student body now engaged in the campaign will be the most loyal and enthusiastic body of alumni ever graduated. It is just as safe to say that the entire State of Illinois will be more intimately associated with the University and have a keener interest in its affairs and in its welfare than ever before. The Stadium campaign will rouse the state to the needs of the University, to its opportunities and service. The Stadium should stand as the dignified expression of the ideal of service. It should rise above our state prairies as a fitting Memorial for the Illinois men and women who served and Illinois gives us advantages—also obligations.

Page Ten

G. H U F F

W. E. EKBLAW

... R. C. ZUPPKE

THE BIG THREE. Here they are, the triumvirate, the men who started the Stadium drive. They have already dug the foundation for the everlasting tribute to fighting Illini. They have pointed out our goal—the erection of not only a Stadium, but an ideal, an embodiment of good sportsmanship and clean living. WHAT ARMY STATISTICS SHOW. " ' " I t is the concensus of opinion of army officers that athletically trained men were conspiciously successful in the fighting game," reads the report of Major John L. Griffith, executive officer, athletic division of the United States army. "One regimental commander who saw extended service on the fighting line, stated that to the best of his knowledge, not a single athlete in the service had failed, rather had, in practically every case, made a glorious record." "The need of more physical education for the young men of military age in the United States has been strikingly illustrated by figures taken from the Provost Marshal General's report on the draft. In a number of states in the Union over fifty per cent of the men examined were physically unqualified for full military service. While some of these rejected had defects which were not remediable, yet in the large majority of cases the men could have been made fit to fight had they received proper physical education in the schools."

Build that Stadium for fighting Illini.

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