Illinois

Some scenes from Illinois, the big "I"....

I saw the campus in the early morning, and generally with a bit of rain. That kept down the soybean aphid swarms that I heard about, and gave everything a nice sheen.
There were a few controversies evident, including an on-going student discussion about changing the school mascot (treated in this great sign)...
The buildings had names from the Lincoln administration, in part because of Lincoln's Illinois connection, but because his administration put together the state university system. This is the old insignia over Lincoln Hall, currently under renovation.
The most beautiful feature of the campus is the presence of midwestern vegetation on the campus, like this wild prairie grass.
The student body, especially undergraduate, had a strong midwestern feel, but there was a big international student presence too, which partly accounted for this great umbrella, the best I saw.
I loved the classic big state school quad, and the feeling of natural space flanked by big institutional structures.
The big excitement was the resignation of the president (which seemed to elate most people), in part from the scandal over secret heritage admissions.
Another local touch: the tornado warning sign...

There were several corn plots in the middle of campus, including this one next to an old observatory.
I took this picture for the sign, and only afterward noticed the bug perched on the sign.
This was an intriguing building--the Art History building, also called the Old Farm House, situated in the middle of campus and currently empty for renovation.



Walking a little further, I came across a cemetary (also in the middle of campus), which had a Jewish plot, then a veterans area, then a German immigrant area, and so on. This is a picture looking into the window of the mausoleum; the Civil War monument is reflected in the window.
The names seemed really evocative.

This was the most decked out tombstone: an American flag, the Illinois mascot banner, and a tomato plant!

I was able to go into this great structure too: the cattle pavilion for showing livestock in the Ag School.This was some of the more modern, kind-of-ugly, kind-of-beautiful-in-a-stark-kind-of-way architecture.

The last morning I was there, several student groups were having a pancake benefit outside.