YEAR IN REVIEW EDITION
THE DAILY ILLINI
MONDAY May 7, 2018
The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM
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Vol. 147 Issue 62
IN REVIEW
Top five moments of past year BY HEATHER SCHLITZ ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
As the school year comes to an end, let’s take a look back on the biggest moments that happened over the year, in no particular order.
GEO strike
After almost a year of bargaining over a new contract between the University administration and the Graduate Employees’ Organization, the GEO went on strike in late February over tuition waivers, health care premiums and wage increases, among other demands. The strike forced classes to be relocated or canceled while graduate employees withheld labor and picketed buildings around campus. The 12-day strike ended with a new contract, with a 98 percent approval rate from the GEO members.
stand trial on April 2, 2019. More than two weeks after Zhang’s disappearance in June, Christensen was arrested for her kidnapping and was indicted by a federal grand jury in July. Though Zhang is presumed dead by the FBI, Christensen has pleaded not guilty to one count of kidnapping resulting in death and two counts of making false statements to the FBI.
protesters demonstrated against the Honor the Chief Society’s participation in the parade. The Chief portrayer who was in the parade left in a police car as the University of Illinois Police Department attempted to de-escalate the situation. The protests, organized by the Illinois Student Government, had originally planned to walk alongside the parade route, but as more registered student Suburban Express email organizations joined in the Suburban Express sent effort, protesters decided to an email to customers in block the route instead. December saying, “You won’t feel like you’re in College of Business receives China when you’re on our $150 million donation buses.” The email was conThe College of Business demned by the University was renamed the Gies Coland provoked widespread lege of Business following a outrage from the Chinese $150 million donation from community. The Illinois University alumni Larry attorney general filed a and Beth Gies. The Univerlawsuit in April against the sity plans to use the donacompany for racially dis- tion to fund scholarships criminatory behavior and and student programs, as harassment of customers. well as to hire faculty. Larry Gies is the founder, presProtesters stopping the ident and CEO of Madison Homecoming Parade Industries. The Homecoming Parade in October was blocked as schlitz2@dailyillini.com
Campus construction carries on BYTHEDAILYILLINISTAFFREPORT
Yule Ball spreads holiday cheer
buzz’s semester in review
Bren Spillane has surprised the nation
As the semester comes to an end, several construction projects across the campus have been substantially completed, and some remain to be completed over the summer. According to Steve Breitwieser, communications officer of Facilities and Services, capital improvement projects have been completed over the course of the year at the following locations: the Integrated Bioprocessing Research Laboratory, the Agricultural Engineering Sciences Laboratory, the South Farms, the Illini Union and the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory. Breitwieser said in an email there will be more than 40 active capital projects in the construc-
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Kidnapping of Yingying Zhang
Brendt Christensen, the accused kidnapper and murderer of visiting scholar Yingying Zhang, is set to
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Sesquicentennial commemoration ends University celebrated for 15 months BY REBECCA WOOD STAFF WRITER
As the school year comes to a close, so does the University’s sesquicentennial celebrations commemorating the school’s history over the last 150 years. Laura Wilhelm-Barr, director of special events for the Chancellor’s Office, has overseen several sesquicentennial events over the past 15 months, including the initial kick-off, a series of musical performances and the upcoming commencement. Wilhelm-Barr said her office has been involved in the planning of University-wide events, rather than the smaller events planned by the sesquicentennial committee. “Units across campus have held their own sesquicentennial celebrations,”
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Wilhelm-Barr said. “So I’ve only been involved in the book-end events.” The kick-off in February 2017 consisted of a series of talks and presentations commemorating the accomplishments of the University’s societal impact since its establishment in 1867, said Pradeep Khanna, chair of the planning committee for the sesquicentennial. “Again, the focus there was to celebrate our accomplishments to society and to renew our commitment to the land-grant mission of the University moving forward,” Khanna said. Khanna said the University hosted a conference in April entitled Illinois 150: The 21st Century University and Research for the Public Good. “The focus was there to highlight the faculty and research and to see how
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