| 1. ACM student chapter | The student chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery provides opportunities for CS students to get involved in a variety of activities. |
| 2. Engineering Open House | EOH is an annual event (somewhat like a science fair) showcasing the various departments in the College of Engineering. Among other things, its aim is to introduce science and engineering to future students. |
| 3. Academy on Capitalism and Limited Government Foundation | This foundation supports the study of libertarian ideas at the University, and holds an annual conference and other events. |
| 4. Spice Box | The Spice Box is a restaurant that serves dinner once or twice a week during the spring semester, operated by students in the Hospitality Management program. |
| 5. James Scholars | The James Scholar program recognizes academically advanced students, and provides them additional opportunities such as honors sections in some courses. |
| 6. Alma Mater statue | The Alma Mater statue, near the corner of Wright and Green Streets, is a very recognizable icon on campus. |
| 7. downtown Champaign | Downtown Champaign (which had experienced a decline in recent decades as many businesses moved to the mall) has enjoyed a revival in recent years with new housing and numerous new restaurants and other attractions. |
| 8. Morrow Plots | The Morrow Plots are the oldest continuously used experimental agriculture plots, and are saluted in a signature song by The Other Guys. |
| 9. Red Grange | A statue on the west side of Memorial Stadium depicts Red Grange, who in 2008 was ranked #1 on ESPN's list of top 25 players in college football history. |
| 10. Ally Network | The Ally Network is a group of faculty and staff working to improve the campus experience for gay and lesbian students. |
| 11. Quad | The Quad, at the center of campus, is a great spot to hang out. Each year before the start of the fall semester, it hosts Quad Day where numerous student organizations set up tables to recruit new members. |
| 12. ACM conference | The student ACM chapter holds an annual conference, bringing in computer science speakers from around the country. |
| 13. College of Engineering | Several departments in the College of Engineering are among the best in their fields. |
| 14. Knights of St. Pat | The Knight of Saint Patrick is an annual award recognizing a small number of student leaders in the College of Engineering. |
| 15. Foellinger Auditorium | Known simply as the Auditorium when I was in school, this building marks the south end of the Quad. |
| 16. Engineering Student Alumni Ambassadors | ESAA is an organization of engineering students that organizes several activities to connect students and alumni. |
| 17. Turner Fellows | The Turner Fellow program is an internship in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. |
| 18. Blue Waters | Expected to come online in 2011, Blue Waters at NCSA will be the most powerful supercomputer openly available to the scientific research community. |
| 19. alphabetical order | In the Big Ten conference (even with eleven members!), Illinois comes first alphabetically, so they always appear at the top of pre-season conference standings in every sport. :-) |
| 20. Engineering at Illinois Hall of Fame | The Engineering hall of fame, created in 2010, honors distinguished engineering alumni and faculty. |
| 21. NCSA | The National Center for Supercomputing Applications supports compute-intensive research activities at the University of Illinois and many other schools. |
| 22. Foundation weekend | The annual meeting of the Univerisity of Illinois Foundation, on a football weekend each autumn, provides an opportunity to celebrate the private donations that are so critical to maintaining the University's excellence. |
| 23. micro-urban community | The Champaign-Urbana community combines the best of urban living (cultural attractions, restaurants, etc.) with the best of small town life (no traffic!). |
| 24. Tau Beta Pi | The Illinois Alpha chapter of Tau Beta Pi honors engineering students who demonstrate "distinguished scholarship and exemplary character." |
| 25. I Hotel | The I Hotel, opened in 2008, is frequently used for conferences and provides accommodations right across the street from the Assembly Hall. |
| 26. Champaign: it's home! | As a student, I lived on campus from 1976 to 1979, and I am now living in town, since February 2006. |
| 27. Jack Kilby | Alumnus Jack Kilby received the Nobel Prize for the invention of the integrated circuit. |
| 28. 1867 Society | The 1867 Society is a student group that promotes student gifts to the University. |
| 29. Chief Illiniwek | Chief Illiniwek was an inspiring symbol of the University of Illinois from 1926 until 2007, performing at football game half-time shows and other events. |
| 30. Orange Krush | Orange Krush, part of the Illini Pride student organization, serves as a huge cheering section for men's basketball, and also raises funds for charity. |
| 31. Krannert Uncorked | Free wine tastings, often accompanied by free music, occur most Thursdays in the spacious Krannert lobby. |
| 32. Four colors suffice | The four-color map theorem, which had stood as a conjecture for more than a century, was finally proved by researchers at the University, with the help of computers. |
| 33. ILLIAC | ILLIAC was the first computer built entirely at an educational institution (1952), and was the first of several built at Illinois. |
| 34. Engineering Hall | The renovation of Engineering Hall, which houses the college administration and a number of student organizations, was completed in 2000. |
| 35. alumni clubs | Local alumni clubs are a great way to meet other alumni and keep in touch with the University. I was active in the New York club for many years. |
| 36. Legends and Lore of Illinois - ghosts, etc. | A number of ghost stories have developed over the years regarding various campus locations. |
| 37. Krannert Center for the Performing Arts | The Krannert Center is an exceptional performing arts venue, featuring the school's music, theater, and dance students, as well as marquee performers from around the world. Some years ago, it was the preferred recording location for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra because of the excellent acoustics in the Great Hall. |
| 38. Undergraduate Library | The Undergraduate Library is totally underground, so as not to throw shade on the adjacent Morrow Plots. |
| 39. Homecoming | The University had one of the earliest Homecoming celebrations of any school (1910). |
| 40. Japan House | Japan House and its gardens are one of many examples of campus treasures that are enhanced and maintained with the help of volunteers. |
| 41. Illinois Promise | The Illinois Promise program, initiated in 2005, provides full scholarships to low income in-state residents, many of whom are the first in their families to attend college. |
| 42. Bronze Tablet | The Bronze Tablet (one tablet for each year, displayed in the corridors of the main library) honors undergraduate students who graduate in the top 3% of their class. |
| 43. LED | The light emitting diode (LED) was invented by Professor Nick Holonyak, who holds the John Bardeen chair in the departments of electrical engineering and physics. |
| 44. Memorial Stadium | Memorial Stadium is the home field for Illinois football (as well as the Chicago Bears in 2002 during their stadium renovation). |
| 45. Navy Pier | The University operated a two-year undergraduate program at Chicago's Navy Pier for a couple of decades following World War II. |
| 46. School of Music jazz program | Numerous jazz ensembles perform at Krannert as well as at local clubs. |
| 47. The Quad Blog | Started in 2007, the Quad Blog covers anything campus-related. |
| 48. Engineering Convergence | Engineering Convergence is a networking dinner for engineering students and alumni, which started in 2008 and has become an annual event. |
| 49. Final Four, 2005 | The men's basketball team had their best run ever, losing to North Carolina in the NCAA championship game. We had about 150 people at our alumni club's game-watching party in Manhattan that night. |
| 50. Amer Delic | By virtue of winning the men's tennis singles title at the 2003 NCAA championship, Delic received a wild card entry to the U.S. Open, where he took his first-round opponent to five sets (I was there!). |
| 51. Panera Bread on Green Street | My favorite "fast casual" restaurant has a location on Green Street, near the corner of Wright Street, in campustown. From the seats at the front window, you can see the Alma Mater statue. |
| 52. Fortune 500 CEOs | I recall reading some years back that Illinois was at or near the top of the list of schools from which the most Fortune 500 CEOs had graduated. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a source for such a claim, so maybe I'll have to take it off the list. |
| 53. Larry Kanfer gallery | Larry Kanfer, a 1979 graduate, has been photographing the campus, as well as various landscapes in the Midwest and around the world. |
| 54. Ultimate Basketball Challenge | This charity event features members of the men's and women's varsity and wheelchair basketball teams competing together in a fun wheelchair basketball game. |
| 55. Camp Kesem | Camp Kesem is a student organization that organizes a summer camp for children of cancer patients. The Illinois chapter is funded in part by the Illini 4000. |
| 56. Block I | Block I is the card-flashing section within the student section of the football stadium. |
| 57. student election commission | During my senior year, I served on a commission that had been established to run student government elections (following a voting scandal that had occurred the prior year). |
| 58. Division of Disability Resources | The campus has long been a leader in providing educational opportunity to students with disabilities. |
| 59. Krannert Center ushering | Volunteer ushers (both students and community members) staff all the shows -- and get to see the performances for free. |
| 60. UI Histories Project | This comprehensive website, started as a student project, documents the history of the campus and its many buildings, in words and photos. |
| 61. Liberty Bowl, 1982 | The 1982 Liberty Bowl, the first post-season appearance by the Illini since the 1960s, was also the final game for coach Bear Bryant of Alabama (I was there!). |
| 62. Marching Illini | Even when the football game isn't going so well, spectators can enjoy the Marching Illini at half-time. Various bands also perform at basketball, volleyball, and other events. |
| 63. Fighting Illini | The nickname "Fighting Illini" was apparently created around the time that Memorial Stadium was built, honoring Illinois students who had fought in World War I. |
| 64. Three in One | The Marching Illini has long performed the traditional "Three in One," including the singing of "Hail to the Orange," at football half-time shows. |
| 65. Mosaic | Mosaic, developed at NCSA on campus, was the first widely used web browser. |
| 66. The Other Guys | The Other Guys is a male a cappella group, whose signature song celebrates the Morrow Plots. |
| 67. Technograph | The Technograph, the engineering student magazine, traces its history to 1885. |
| 68. Computer Science department | The Computer Science department was one of the nation's best CS departments when I was a student in the 1970s, and it's still ranked near the top 30 years later. |
| 69. PLATO | PLATO was an early interactive computer system that provided access to various online course materials. |
| 70. Nobel prize winners | A number of alumni and faculty members have received awards such as the Nobel prize, as well as Pulitzers, Academy Awards, and others. |
| 71. wheelchair basketball | The men's and women's wheelchair basketball teams both have a history of national championship titles. |
| 72. Illini Union guest rooms | Hotel rooms in the Illini Union are a convenient place to stay right on campus. Some rooms offer a great view of the Quad. |
| 73. Ikenberry Commons | The Champaign residence halls, between Gregory and Peabody, are undergoing extensive renovation during the next several years. The whole area has been named to honor Stan Ikenberry, who was President of the University from 1979 to 1995, and stepped in as interim President in 2010. |
| 74. men's tennis team | The men's tennis team swept the 2003 NCAA championships, winning the team title, as well as the individual singles and doubles championships. |
| 75. College Libertarians | This student organization promotes libertarian ideas on campus. |
| 76. Colonnades Club | The stadium renovation included luxury seating areas, which opened for the 2008 football season. |
| 77. EbertFest | Alumnus Roger Ebert holds his annual film festival in downtown Champaign, with additional events on campus. |
| 78. Assembly Hall | The Assembly Hall is an amazing arena, seating over 16000, with no interior supports. It is home to men's and women's basketball, as well as concerts and other shows. |
| 79. bike trails on campus | I've enjoyed cycling in Champaign-Urbana, including on the various bike trails crossing the campus. |
| 80. Altgeld Hall | Altgeld Hall is one of the oldest and most recognizable buildings on campus. It was home to the library, then the law school, and now the math department for the past few decades. |
| 81. Bardeen Quad | The Bardeen Quad, at the center of the north end of campus, is surrounded by various engineering buildings. |
| 82. Beckman Institute | The Beckman Institute is an inter-disciplinary research center that brings together researchers from many different fields on campus. |
| 83. Siebel Center | The Siebel Center opened in 2004 as the new home of the Computer Science department. |
| 84. Illini Media hall of fame | The hall of fame honors alumni of The Daily Illini and other Illini Media units who have made notable achievements in their careers. |
| 85. The Girls Next Door | The Girls Next Door is a female a cappella group. |
| 86. Altgeld Hall chimes | The chimesmaster and various student players perform "Hail to the Orange" and other songs on the chimes in the tower of Altgeld Hall, which is open for tours. |
| 87. Illini Union | The Illini Union, anchoring the north end of the Quad, is a hub of student activity, with bowling, billiards, and more. |
| 88. John Bardeen | Professor John Bardeen earned two Nobel Prizes -- one for the invention of the transistor while at Bell Labs, the other for developing the BCS theory of superconductivity, at Illinois. When I was a student, I interviewed him for an article in the Technograph. |
| 89. 40 North 88 West | 40 North is the Arts, Culture, and Entertainment council in Champaign County. |
| 90. women's basketball | Both the women and men play in the Assembly Hall, but it's a lot easier to get a good seat for the women's games. In 2008, the ninth-seeded Illini came within a couple of seconds of winning the Big Ten tournament (I was there!). |
| 91. Beckman cafe | The cafe in the atrium of the Beckman Institute is a nice place to get lunch (on weekdays) on the north end of campus. |
| 92. Illini 4000 | Starting in 2007, a team of Illinois students has organized a cross-country bicycling trip (about 4000 miles) as a fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society and Camp Kesem. |
| 93. Research Park | The Research Park, on the southwest side of campus, provides office space for both established and start-up companies. It facilitates interaction with the campus and provides internship and job opportunities for students. |
| 94. Boneyard Arts Festival | The Boneyard Arts Festival has become an annual event, showcasing visual and performing arts in numerous locations on campus and throughout Champaign-Urbana. |
| 95. blue and orange | The current school colors were chosen in 1894. I was delighted when I once heard an interior decorator mention that choosing two complementary colors can make a great decorating scheme -- say, for example, orange and blue. |
| 96. Allerton music barn | An old barn on the Allerton park property has been converted to use for an occasional music festival. |
| 97. students | Although it's nice sometimes to stroll across the Quad when school is not in session -- it seems so quiet! -- this place is really all about the students. Now that I live in Champaign, I enjoy my interactions with students at various Engineering activities and as a volunteer usher at Krannert. |
| 98. Krannert Center tours | Daily tours highlight the history of the Center, and provide the opportunity to go backstage and see the behind-the-scenes workings of the building. |
| 99. Armory building | When built, the Armory was among the largest buildings with no interior supporting columns. Alumni from the era before online registration will remember spending time in long lines at the Armory, attempting to make changes to their class registrations before each semester began. |
| 100. uiuc.edu | Although the campus is gradually converting to the use of illinois.edu, the original uiuc.edu was an early and popular well-known domain name on the Internet. |
| 101. The Daily Illini | The DI has been the independent student newspaper at the University since 1871. |
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