Chapter 7

Coping with Growth

   Meanwhile, in the mid-60's, a special person was coming of age in Chicago's far northwest suburbs. His father had an electrical contractor business. While still in high school, he got a part-time job at a nearby suburban FM station. He was independent-minded, strong-willed and very determined, traits that would later become the indispensable contribution to the ultimate goal. He graduated high school in 1967, and decided to attend SIU in the fall. The SIU he discovered was very much in flux.

   The campus and community had not yet adjusted to SIU's manic growth spurt. Housing for students was still in short supply. Trailer courts, makeshift temporary dorm space (accommodating as much as 3 or more in a regular room), administration buildings and temporary "barracks" were pressed into service for housing. The campus' state seemed to be continually "under construction." Buildings were always being built, sometimes in twos and threes. Despite all the construction, sidewalks and walkways ended up last in priority, so there was nowhere to walk except on the grass. Yet since the grass was perpetually torn up because of the construction, everyone had to walk on the dirt. Add to this mix that it seemed to rain A LOT in C'dale, which turned the dirt turned to mud very quickly, significant portions of campus regularly became quagmires.

   Sometimes, wooden "snow fences" were laid on the mud to assist in walking through the mess. This worked out all right for the first 1,000 or so persons; not as well for the next 5,000. The construction of Schneider, Neely, Mae Smith, Allen, Boomer and Wright dorms, along with Trueblood and Grinnell Halls, created a significant "East Campus." SIU was now split, with the Illinois Central Railroad tracks and US Route 51 right in the middle. Thus, students living at or visiting the east campus had to cross the tracks and Route 51 every time they wanted to get to the main campus area, to go to class, just about any university office, the University Center, the Arena, or Morris Library.

   Now, there are walkway/bikeways/overpasses over the tracks and Route 51 that people use. In 1967 these were not there. In 1965, the university had approved construction of the overpass, and construction began that year. But construction was suspended in 1967 because proceeding with construction exceeded original cost estimates. Years passed, and students continued to fall victim to pedestrian/auto, and pedestrian/train collisions. The university bureaucracy still would not proceed with construction. Only after another major accident resulting in a student's death in December 1969, along with vehement student demands for completion of construction, did the university finally move ahead.

   In 1967, there were three main areas to cross. One was at Grand, where there were sidewalks, railroad crossing gates, and a traffic light at Route 51 (Illinois Avenue). That was pretty safe. Another was just west of Grinnell (where the first overpass was finally finished in October, '70). This was where the most traffic (and the most danger) occurred. The third spot was between Wright and the Physical Plant (where an overpass was built in the late ‘80s). This one featured a hilly area that led down to (and up from) the tracks. When the "hilly areas" were barren (which was most of the time) and it rained (often) the hills became mudslides. When one noticed another student with a "muddy backside" there was a grunt of empathy because almost everyone had, at least once, attempted this route only to take a slide in the mud. In fact, this last crossing became known as the "Ho Chi Minh Trail," named after the route in Vietnam that the insurgents traveled, famous for its "monsoons" and mud.

   So it was clear to all who came there that SIU was a "work in progress." The campus was evolving, and the many new and ongoing projects were threatening to certain administration and faculty personnel. Those who were unsettled by the changes were concerned about keeping the traditional priorities in order. Yet, there was continuing debate over just what those priorities were.

   For years, some schools had been run as if serving student needs were afterthoughts. There was a rationale that what was good for administrators (and some senior faculty) was good for students. Concurrently, established protocols and procedures of decision-making and grievances, in place for years (even decades), were stubbornly defended by administrators and faculty. The old methods certainly offered administrative convenience to those in power. It also kept the defenders in control of most spending and personnel power.

   The massive expansion of SIU was made possible by the support of, and promises of benefit to, unions, local and other contractors and vendors, certain politicians, and local businesses. All of these groups stood to enjoy financial and/or political gain from the massive influx of government dollars into C'dale. It was these interests (and not those related to higher education and the students who sought it) that coalesced to make the state commit the dollars to SIU, and it was these same interests that were represented on the SIU Board of Trustees. That being said, those in power were aware that state dollars would cease if there were no students. But, in the ‘60s, there seemed to be an endless supply of students.

end of Chapter 7