University YMCA Archives · Stories

Stories

Episodes from the Y's history that no single program or profile can hold: campaigns, turning points and the people who carried them, told from the records of the time, with every source listed.

1971–1972

Students win the vote where they study, 1971–1972

When the 26th Amendment gave 18-year-olds the vote in 1971, Champaign County's clerk still would not let most University of Illinois students register where they lived and studied. Students organized at the University YMCA formed the Coalition for Voter Registration, went to court, and lined up at the courthouse. On Jan. 26, 1972, a federal judge ruled that the county could not hold students to a separate standard, and in the next ten days 3,872 new voters registered.

1952–1955

“Let’s practice what we preach”: Campus barbershops and Black students, 1952–1955

In 1952 no barbershop near campus would cut a Black student's hair. That fall the University YMCA's Racial Equality Committee set out to change it, first with a petition and then with patient talks with the barbers. Over the next three years Black students, the Student Senate, a small interracial council, lawyers and pickets joined the fight. By the fall of 1954 nearly every campus shop had opened its doors. For a time the Y also considered opening a barbershop of its own.

Know a story from the Y's past that belongs here, or have photos or memories to share? Write to hello.ymca@universityymca.org