Eastern Illinois University is a state university located in Charleston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a comprehensive university with a broad curriculum, including Baccalaureate and Master's degrees in education, business, arts, sciences, and humanities.
Location
Eastern Illinois University is located in Charleston, Illinois, just off Interstate 57, about 50 miles south of Champaign and about 40 miles north of Effingham. The university is easily identified by its iconic landmark, the Old Main, at its location on 600 Lincoln Avenue.
History
Eastern Illinois Normal School was established by the Illinois State Legislature in 1895 "to train teachers for the schools of East Central Illinois." A 40-acre campus was acquired in Charleston and the first building was commissioned. When the school began classes in 1899, there were 125 students and an 18-member faculty.
The first building was finished in 1899 and is called Old Main, though it is formally named the Livingston C. Lord Administration Building in honor of EIU's first president, who served from 1899 to 1933. Built of Indiana limestone in a heavy Gothic revival style with turrets, towers, and battlements, its distinctive outline is the official symbol of the school. Old Main is one of "Altgeld's castles", five buildings built in the 1890s at the major Illinois state colleges. Governor John Peter Altgeld was instrumental in funding the Illinois university system, and he was especially fond of the Gothic style. Eastern's "Old Main" and Illinois State University's Cook Hall are the only schools where the "castle" is not named after Altgeld. Other original Gothic Revival buildings include Booth Library and Blair Hall. Blair Hall was restored after a disastrous fire in 2004. In fall 2008, the university opened the newly constructed Doudna Fine Arts Center, designed by international architect Antoine Predock. The 138,000-square-foot (12,800Â m2) complex houses the music, theatre, and visual arts departments.
Through the twentieth century, the school changed its name several times in order to reflect its transition from a teachers college into a muti-purpose institution that could be of wider service to Illinois. Thus, Eastern Illinois State Normal School became Eastern Illinois State Teachers College in 1921, which then became Eastern Illinois State College in 1947. In 1957, the Illinois General Assembly changed the name of the institution to Eastern Illinois University.
Institution
Eastern Illinois University has roughly 8,000 students. Admission is selective. Tuition is approximately $8,550 per year for residents of Illinois and other bordering states, while it is $10,680 for non-residents. Additional fees amount to $2,762.32. The university estimates its average cost-of-attendance to be approximately $24,640 per academic year. Tuition is expected to increase in the 2016-2017 academic year.
There are prominent Communication Disorders and Sciences and Biological Sciences programs, though the College of Education remains the largest department. The university has an endowment of approximately $35 million. The current president is David Glassman.
In the US News & World Report college rankings, EIU is classified as a regional public university and fits into one of four regions: the Midwest Region. In the publication's 2015 rankings, EIU ranks No. 4 amongst its peers in that region.
Colleges and schools
Eastern is divided into four colleges:
- College of Arts and Humanities
- College of Business and Applied Sciences
- College of Education and Professional Studies
- College of Sciences
Other academic divisions include The Graduate School, Sandra and Jack Pine Honors College, and School of Continuing Education. The Graduate School was founded in 1951 and has an enrollment of approximately 1,800 full and part-time students with more than 300 faculty holding graduate faculty status. The university also includes the Center for Academic Support and Achievement, the Office of Minority Affairs, the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, and the Office of Study Abroad. The university's Booth Library hosts yearly exhibits, the Ballenger Teachers Center, and numerous digital collections. The main university art museum, the Tarble Arts Center, maintains a 1,000-piece permanent collection, including a 500-piece collection of late 20th century Illinois folk arts and related archival information. A majority of the holdings are concentrated on art from the state of Illinois and the Midwest region.
Eighty-eight percent of graduates find work in a field related to their major within six months after graduation.
Campus life
Organizations
Eastern Illinois University offers over 150 student organizations. The school's daily newspaper is The Daily Eastern News.
Residences
Eleven on-campus residence halls include seven co-ed, three female-only, and one male-only. Throughout the year the residence halls participate in competitions and various community service activities.
Dining services
Eastern Illinois University features three residence hall dining centers(Taylor, Thomas, and Stevenson), the University Food Court with five fast food locations, Java Beanery & Bakery (Java B & B), and two Marketplace Convenience Centers. They also operate a restaurant style option (Reservation-Only Dining) on the weekends.
Athletics
Eastern Illinois University's colors are blue and gray; the sports teams' mascot is the Panther. The teams participate in NCAA Division I (I-AA FCS for football) in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Eastern Football team is coached by Kim Dameron and competes at home in O'Brien Stadium. Eastern Illinois University was a member of the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1912-1970.
Two current National Football League head coaches, Sean Payton of the New Orleans Saints and Mike Shanahan of the Washington Redskins, are alumni of Eastern Illinois. Brad Childress, head coach of the Minnesota Vikings from 2006-2010 is also a graduate, preceding Sean Payton at Eastern Illinois. Additionally, Tony Romo, the former starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, is an alumnus of the University.
Eastern Illinois is also the host of the IHSA Boys and Girls State Track and Field Finals, which have been held at O'Brien Field since the 1970s.
Alma mater
Simply referred to as the "EIU Alma Mater," the song itself was composed by Friedrich Koch during his tenure as a music teacher at Eastern. The lyrics were composed as a poem titled "For Us Arose Thy Walls and Towers" by Isabel McKinney, a professor of English at Eastern from 1911 to 1945. These lyrics were originally set to the German folk tune Die Wacht am Rhein (The Watch on the Rhine), but were changed around the time of World War I due to anti-German sentiments at the time.
Notable alumni
- Ryan Pace, general manager of NFL's Chicago Bears
- Joan Allen, actress
- Jim Edgar, Governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999
- Burl Ives, singer/actor who has the Burl Ives Studio on campus named after him (dropped out his junior year)
- Joe Knollenberg, representative of the Ninth District of Michigan, United States House of Representatives From 1993 to 2009
- Charlotte Martin, singer-songwriter
- William Phipps, actor
- Matthew Polenzani, opera singer
- Dennis Reboletti, member of Illinois House of Representatives
- Ron Westray, jazz trombonist, member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and the Mingus Big Band
- LisaRaye McCoy, actress, notably from the sitcom All of Us
- Glen Gabbard, psychiatrist and author of 20 books
- Dave Huxtable, assistant coach with the Wisconsin Badgers football team
- Christine Korsgaard, philosopher
- Marilyn Skoglund B.A. 1971, Vermont Supreme Court Justice, notable for becoming lawyer and judge without attending law school
- Brandon Phelps, member of Illinois House of Representatives
- Gary Forrester, writer and composer
- Jan Spivey Gilchrist, children's book author and illustrator
Notable athletes
- Tim Bogar, retired Major League Baseball infielder
- Zach Borenstein, professional baseball player
- Brad Childress, former head coach of the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League
- Kevin Duckworth, former National Basketball Association all-star center
- Brian Ebersole, Panther wrestler; current MMA fighter for the UFC
- Ray Fisher, former lineman for Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League
- Jimmy Garoppolo, quarterback for New England Patriots
- Jeff Gossett, NFL Pro Bowl punter
- Mike Heimerdinger, former NFL Offensive Coordinator with the New York Jets, Denver Broncos and Tennessee Titans, died 2011
- Kyle Hill, professional basketball player
- Otis Hudson, NFL offensive lineman with the Cincinnati Bengals
- Matt Hughes, NCAA All-American wrestler; retired professional MMA fighter, former 2-time UFC Welterweight Champion, UFC Hall of Fame member
- Schellas Hyndman, former head coach of soccer's FC Dallas
- John Jurkovic, former NFL defensive lineman
- Ray McElroy, NFL defensive back for Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts and Detroit Lions
- Marty Pattin, MLB All-Star pitcher
- Sean Payton, head coach of the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League
- Ted Petersen, former lineman for Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League
- Kenny Robertson, four-time NCAA Division I qualifier for wrestling; current mixed martial artist for the UFC, formerly for Bellator Fighting Championships
- Tony Romo, quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League
- Stan Royer, MLB baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox
- Mike Russow, former wrestler; current mixed martial artist once for Pride Fighting Championships and now the UFC
- Kevin Seitzer, retired all-star Major League Baseball player
- Mike Shanahan, former head coach of the Washington Redskins, Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Raiders of the National Football League
- Dan Steele, track All-American, 400-meter National Champion, and Bronze Medalist at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics
- Chris Szarka, fullback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League
- Louis Taylor, wrestler; current professional MMA fighter
- Ryan Thomas (fighter), wrestler; current professional mixed martial arts fighter for American Top Team
- Pierre Walters, linebacker, Kansas City Chiefs, of the National Football League
- James Warring, boxing world champion, kickboxing world champion, boxing referee
- Kirby Wilson, running backs coach for Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League
- Matt Veach, current mixed martial artist, formerly for the Ultimate Fighting Championship
References
External links
- Official website
- EIU Athletics website