Repository: UIHistories Project: UI Foundation Series - Bulletin 1 (1936) [PAGE 9]

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Some of the Fine Things Accomplished by the Old Alumni Fund

AFT Alma Mater Group. The Alumni Fund Board, during 1927 and 1928, under the guidance of W. L. Abbott, president, put on an intensive subscription campaign, collected something slightly under $30,000 which, with $13,000 contributed by the graduating classes of 1923 to 1929, was more than enough to complete the Alma Mater Group in bronze, and dedicate it at the 1929 commencement, just 50 years after Lorado Taft's graduation. The group, which is situated on the south campus, has been much admired during the years since its completion; we feel sure it has been a stimulus to the student body. If it has no other value in the years to come, it will stand as a tribute to our distinguished alumnus, oil the campus he so dearly loves. Art Lectureship. The second important piece of work was an emergency subscription of $5,000 toward the Taft Art Lectureship. Dr. Taft had for years given a course of lectures on art at the University each spring, and it was his hope that this might be continued after his retirement. Dr. Kinley in 1929 undertook to raise $25,000 as an endowment, the income from which would make this lectureship perpetual. He succeeded in raising $20,000, but could not find sponsors for the balance. The Alumni Fund Board was able to place the final $5,000 at his disposal so as to complete the project. Student Loan Fund. During the year 1931-32, when the depression seemed to be at its worst, the loan funds then available at the University had been depleted to a point where no further assistance could be offered. At this time the Alumni Fund Board was able to place at the University's disposal $2,000 in cash, to be loaned in small amounts to deserving students so they could stay in school—particularly to seniors so they could complete their courses and graduate with their classes. With the year 1932-33 coming on and with the depression still in evidence, the Alumni Fund Board increased the appropriation for the same purpose $1,000 at the beginning of each semester, thus making a total of $4,000 available for students who needed assistance. We have been assured by Dean Turner that the contributions were invaluable in his work with the student body during this trying period. Revision of "Illini Trail" Finally, during the closing months of the calendar year 1933, the Alumni Fund Board

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TAFT ALMA MATER S T A T U E , first conceived while our famous alumnus was still a student here, was completed and presented to the University on the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. Taft's graduation through the efforts of the sculptor, the graduating classes of '23 to '29 inclusive, and the Alumni Fund. This picture was taken immediately after the dedicatory exercises, President Kinley and Dr. Taft standing in the foreground.

was able to contribute $1,500 for a needed revision of the well-known campus film, "The Illini Trail," which in its previous edition had proved to be a most effective source of entertainment for the alumni throughout the United States, and particularly as a means of visualizing to the people of the State of Illinois and her neighbor states the University as a whole—their own factory in operation, as it were, with ex-

amples of its buildings, athletic contests, student life and the daily educational processes. This "Movie of the Campus" has really become quite an institution and serves a real need, not only as the vehicle of a pleasant evening's entertainment but as a real record of events, The flexibility of the film method of presentation makes frequent revision possible, allowing the preservation of stable material and the replacement of passing events by new and up-to-date incidents.

Our Football Team

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QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Through the cooperation of the University Board of Trustees, the Alumni Association and the old Alumni Fund Board, the Foundation has been made a going concern. In these pages the form of organization and its aims have been set forth. Have you any suggestions for the improvement of the set-up? .... 2. May we send you a pamphlet illustrating and describing the present development of the campus, the buildings, the faculty and the plans for the future? 3. If you contributed to the Foundation, (a) would you be willing to let your gift go into an unrestricted fund to be assigned where the University Trustees and Foundation Board might elect, or (b) would you insist on a direct contribution to some definite project like a Union building? Name Address .". £

Kindly tear this off and mail to the University of Illinois Foundation Room 118 Union Buildiner. Chamnaisrn. Illinois

Class

the football team at the Hamilton Club and in his speech at the dinner, Coach Zuppke paid a high compliment to his team when he said: "A few twists and turns at the right time and we'd have finished up on the top. On either coast we would be a great team but here in the middle west we were not so tough". . . . "I take my hat off to this small Illini team because of its great heart. It gave the best that it had and that is all you can ask.". . . . "Illinois Alumni are kind to the coaches and the teams and the University and that may explain our success." High praises from one who distributes his compliments very charily and always means what he says.