University YMCA · 1001 S. Wright St., Champaign, IL 61820
Visit universityymca.orgUniversity YMCA · 1001 S. Wright St., Champaign, IL 61820
Visit universityymca.orgDated moments from the University YMCA’s program histories and the story of its building, from its first welcome for new students in 1876 to this year’s Dump & Run. Each one links to the history it comes from, where the sources are. Choose a thread to follow one program.
The Y begins welcoming new students
YMCA members meet incoming trains and help freshmen find rooms, the start of the Y's work with new students.
Freshman CampJobs through the Y office
The Y office has "constant calls" for work; townspeople with odd jobs are asked to tell General Secretary W. E. Durstine, who sends a student.
Student Employment BureauThe Student Employment Bureau begins
The Y creates an employment bureau that keeps a list of local jobs. That September the papers ask townspeople with work for students to apply at the Y office in University Hall.
Student Employment BureauA canvass of both towns
The bureau makes its first "systematic canvass" of Champaign and Urbana for student jobs and in October places its first ad: student help "free of charge."
Student Employment BureauAssociation Hall opens
The Y opens its first building of its own, at Wright and John, with dormitories, a café and an assembly room.
Our BuildingThe University joins in
With $300 from the University and a full-time manager, Ben S. Fisher, the bureau is run "for the first time" by the University and the Y jointly.
Student Employment BureauThe first reception for foreign students
General Secretary E. Glen Hersman holds the Y's "first annual reception" for every foreign student on campus.
International Student ProgramA wage scale for student work
The bureau issues a uniform wage scale: 20 cents an hour, and 22 to 25 hours of work a week for board.
Student Employment BureauThe Y leaves Association Hall
The Y turns its building over to the School of Military Aeronautics and never moves back.
Our BuildingThe Friendly Relations committee
Henry Wilson hires C. D. Hayes, back from YMCA work in China and Japan, and a student Committee on Friendly Relations begins work with foreign students.
International Student ProgramThe Hut
An army hut at Green and Wright, built for the student soldiers, is dedicated and becomes the Y's headquarters.
Our BuildingColdwell takes charge in the Hut
Student employment is "centralized" under Mic Coldwell, who runs the bureau from the Hut at Wright and Green. That year 1,101 students earn $86,770 by April.
Student Employment BureauThe neediest first
With jobs short, the bureau asks students who can manage without work to leave the jobs to those who cannot.
Student Employment BureauFreshman Fellowship reaches 80 groups
Small weekly discussion groups for freshmen, led by upperclassmen.
Freshman CampAssociation Hall sold to the Illinois Union
Members approve the sale for $130,000. The building becomes Illini Hall.
Our BuildingThe site at Wright and Chalmers
Prof. S. W. Parr buys the Hopkins corner at auction for the Y. The Board takes it over on Dec. 10, over the objections of sorority row.
Our BuildingThe first International Banquet
300 students from 29 nations attend the first International Banquet, given by the Y's Friendly Relations committee at the Wesley Foundation.
International Student ProgramChilds & Smith hired
On the Building Bureau's advice the Board hires the Chicago firm, which draws a low, half-timbered H-shaped house.
Our BuildingThe Employment Committee
Under J. G. Cattron a committee of 35 working students takes over the job-finding. The bureau finds 3,342 jobs for 962 students.
Student Employment BureauThe first Freshman Camp
Mic Coldwell and the Freshman Program Committee, chaired by Harry Schlenz, plan the camp that spring. On Sept. 13, 106 entering men leave by bus for Camp Seymour, near Decatur.
Freshman CampAbout 140 freshmen at camp
A Daily Illini editorial says some 140 members of the class of 1931 will start college with a head start.
Freshman CampInternational Friendship
The Friendly Relations committee becomes the Committee on International Friendship.
International Student ProgramWhat Price Education
The Y publishes What Price Education — A Story of Eight Boys Who Work, about students the bureau kept in school.
Student Employment BureauInto the frame houses
The Y moves its headquarters into the two houses at 1001 and 1003 S. Wright.
Our BuildingA record year
The bureau finds 4,118 jobs for 1,254 students, its best year.
Student Employment BureauThe $1.1 million campaign
Henry Wilson takes over the stalled building and endowment campaign. The Depression halts it.
Our BuildingThe Depression
Applications for work reach four times the number of a year before.
Student Employment BureauThe University takes over
The University takes over student employment in the Office of the Dean of Men. The Y's employment secretary, Dwight F. Bracken, becomes assistant dean of men in charge of employment.
Student Employment BureauFriendship tours
Foreign students make 14 "friendship tours" to Illinois communities in three months.
International Student ProgramConstruction begins
Pere Anderson and Co. of Chicago begin work on Childs & Smith's Tudor design.
Our Building3,000 applicants for 300 places
The camp is now two three-day sessions before Freshman Week.
Freshman CampJohn R. Mott lays the cornerstone
About 650 people gather inside the unfinished building; WILL broadcasts the service.
Our BuildingThe building opens
The Y moves in from temporary quarters on Sixth Street. The building cost about $300,000.
Our BuildingSir William Bragg dedicates the building
Six memorial rooms, among them Latzer Hall and Murphy Lounge, are dedicated the evening before.
Our BuildingCamp at Camp Seymour
Dean Leeper chairs the planning group. Henry Wilson reports the camps "highly successful."
Freshman CampThe last camp before the war
The camp meets at Camp Seymour. A short camp follows at Camp Kiwanis in June 1943; then wartime travel restrictions suspend it.
Freshman CampCamp resumes after the war
The first camp since 1942: 125 entering freshmen at Camp Seymour, Sept. 16–19, organized by associate secretary William G. Black.
Freshman CampBailey's will
Champaign banker Fred S. Bailey signs a will leaving two-thirds of the income of his estate to the University YMCA for scholarships to "worthy moral students."
Bailey Scholarship ProgramThe International Supper Club
A YMCA-YWCA international supper club begins meeting at the Y; by that fall it meets every other Sunday, each night cooked by one country's students.
International Student ProgramThe camp moves to Allerton Park
Two sessions at the Memorial 4-H Camp at Robert Allerton Park, near Monticello, its home for most of the 1950s.
Freshman CampJohn W. Price
John W. Price comes from the University of Minnesota YMCA to lead the Y's work with international students.
International Student ProgramThe Kaeser Room
The finished basement's coffee shop and recreation room is dedicated. It later becomes the K-Room Cafeteria.
Our BuildingThe Little United Nations
The YMCA-YWCA Little United Nations holds its first General Assembly; in 1954 it brings Eleanor Roosevelt to campus.
International Student ProgramThe first Southern Tour
About 30 international students take the Y's first Easter bus tour to the Tennessee Valley Authority, the start of the annual Southern Tour.
International Student ProgramThe first Welcome Weekend
The Y holds its first International Welcome Weekend for new students from abroad, at the 4-H camp near Monticello.
International Student ProgramThe Wilson Memorial Chapel
A chapel in memory of Henry E. Wilson is dedicated on the second floor.
Our BuildingThe International Student Program
With a foundation grant the Y launches a "full-fledged International Student Program," with John Price and Vera Kochmann on its staff.
International Student ProgramThe third floor is finished
The Fred A. Poor Memorial adds a library, a lounge and the first bedrooms for students.
Our BuildingThe Bailey bequest
Fred S. Bailey dies at 84. His estate, about $1 million, goes into a trust held in perpetuity.
Bailey Scholarship ProgramThe first guidelines
The Y's Board approves guidelines for the scholarships and creates a Bailey Committee.
Bailey Scholarship ProgramThe first Bailey Scholars
The Y announces its first Bailey Scholarships, for 27 students.
Bailey Scholarship ProgramSelf-study recommends ending the camp
No camp is held in 1957 or 1958. The Y tries weekend programs for freshmen instead.
Freshman CampHal Colvin takes charge
Harold W. "Hal" Colvin, who first joined the Y's staff in 1919, comes back to direct the Bailey Scholarship Fund.
Bailey Scholarship ProgramFreshman Weekend at Lake Bloomington
The YMCA Freshman Weekend, for 300 freshman men, meets at East Bay Camp on Lake Bloomington.
Freshman CampPrice visits former students
John and Elizabeth Price spend three months visiting former students, meeting almost 400 alumni in 21 countries.
International Student ProgramWomen join; the YWCA co-sponsors
The first YMCA-YWCA Freshman Weekend meets at East Bay Camp, Lake Bloomington. Peters dates the change to 1961.
Freshman CampLeadership awards
Two special Bailey awards go to outstanding student leaders, forerunners of today's Leadership Awards.
Bailey Scholarship ProgramRenamed Freshman Conference
The emphasis moves from recreation to frank talk about college and the question "Education for what?"
Freshman CampIllini in India
Price takes 13 Illinois students to a work camp in an Indian village.
International Student ProgramUniversity for Man
Lou Douglas, a Kansas State political scientist and father of the Y board member who later proposed Communiversity, helps found the University for Man, a free university in Manhattan, Kansas.
CommuniversityPrice joins the University
Price leaves for the University's Office of Foreign Student Affairs, and part of the international program goes with him.
International Student ProgramThe 1968 conference: 500 people, and controversy
350 freshmen, 70 returning students and 80 faculty. Critical discussion of University policies, held as Project 500 students arrived, troubles the Board.
Freshman CampThe YWCA moves in
After selling McKinley Hall, the University YWCA becomes a tenant. The building is the University YW-YMCA.
Our BuildingRenamed New Student Conference
Opened to transfer students, at the urging of the Dean of Students office. Hannah says the old name returned in 1972.
Freshman CampThe last conference
Only 41 students attend, and the program ends after nearly 50 years.
Freshman CampThe Learning Exchange
The student government opens a Learning Exchange in the Illini Union, matching people who want to teach a skill with people who want to learn it.
CommuniversityThe Y's mini-courses
The University YMCA offers low-cost mini-courses each semester, from juggling to bread baking.
CommuniversityThe first Communiversity
The Y publishes its first free Communiversity catalogue, with more than 20 classes open to students and townspeople, and classes begin the second week of February.
CommuniversityAfterward: a new international committee
After University cuts, the Y forms a new international committee and opens an International Place in Murphy Lounge.
International Student ProgramA revival attempt fails
Freshman CampEd Nestingen directs the fund
Ed Nestingen, retired as program director, comes back to direct the Bailey fund part time, until 1991.
Bailey Scholarship ProgramAbout 1,050 enrolled
About 1,050 people enroll in a single term, about two-thirds of them University students.
CommuniversityA coordinator of its own
A new registration fee pays for a half-time Communiversity coordinator, Linda K. Varkonda.
CommuniversityAfterward: the International Dinner
An International Festival held by the Y and the McKinley Foundation closes with the first of the annual International Dinners that continue today.
International Student ProgramThe one community program kept
When the Y spins off its other community programs, Communiversity is the only one it keeps.
CommuniversityThe Y Eatery
Food service moves to a first-floor kitchen, where a Thai restaurant has served lunch ever since.
Our BuildingThe catalogue in the Daily Illini
The full Communiversity catalogue runs as an insert in the Daily Illini, as it will each term for some 20 years.
CommuniversityDavid Eisenman directs the fund
David Eisenman begins 19 years as director of the Bailey Scholarship.
Bailey Scholarship ProgramThe Y's Annual Garage Sale
The University YMCA's Annual Garage Sale, the forerunner of Dump & Run, is the main source of money for its student programs.
Dump & RunThe first Dump & Run
Having joined the national Dump and Run program, the Y holds its first Dump & Run in its own building at 1001 S. Wright St.
Dump & RunFewer staff
The Y goes from two full-time program staff to one, the point to which a later review traces the program's decline.
CommuniversityMove-out collections begin
The Y collects donations as students move out in May and stores them in semi-trailers until the August sale, held Aug. 27–29 in the Y building.
Dump & RunTo the Stock Pavilion
Grown too big for the Y building, the sale moves to the U of I Stock Pavilion. Nearly 2,300 people come in the first four hours, and it raises about $30,000.
Dump & RunFree tickets for international students
The University's Office of International Student Affairs co-sponsors the sale, and new international students get in free.
Dump & RunA Legacy of Leadership
A capital campaign raises $1.1 million for an elevator, a roof and a boiler.
Our BuildingA record year
Spring collections fill three semi-trailers, and the board's chair calls the year "a record-setter in both sales and volume."
Dump & RunA review begins
At its retreat the Board of Governors sets up a committee to review Communiversity.
CommuniversityCommuniversity ends
After the review, the Board of Governors votes to end Communiversity. Spring 2009 was its last term.
CommuniversityThe 2009 review
The Board of Governors adopts a review that turns Bailey from financial aid toward service and leadership, with volunteer readers and Leadership Awards.
Bailey Scholarship ProgramLa Colectiva joins the Y
The Latino student group joins the University YMCA. That summer its members interview 30 to 40 community members about immigrants' needs.
New American Welcome CenterCollections at the Pavilion
While the Y building is renovated, the May collections are also held at the Stock Pavilion. They return to the Y in 2011.
Dump & RunThe first awards ceremony
The first Bailey Scholars and Leaders chosen under the new rules are honored at the program's first awards ceremony.
Bailey Scholarship ProgramThe first Immigration Forum meetings
The Y convenes 25 people on the needs of Spanish-speaking immigrants, the start of the monthly meetings that become the C-U Immigration Forum.
New American Welcome CenterGrand Re-Opening
A west tower with the first elevator, a new roof and rebuilt offices: a $2.3 million renovation.
Our BuildingAn immigrant helpline opens
AmeriCorps member Aaron Johnson-Ortiz's immigrant helpline begins answering calls, staffed by student volunteers.
New American Welcome CenterA volunteer committee
A volunteer committee, chaired by Ellen Dahlke, takes over much of the planning. On the Saturday of the 10th sale, 1,573 people come in.
Dump & RunLa Línea
Francisco Baires takes over the helpline, relaunched as La Línea, a Spanish-language helpline. Its Facebook page, created Oct. 11, is today's NAWC page.
New American Welcome CenterA total-return trust
On the petition of the Y and the University, the Cook County court converts the Bailey trust to a total-return trust paying 5 percent a year, effective Jan. 1, 2011.
Bailey Scholarship ProgramInSecure Communities
More than 175 people attend the Forum's public meeting on Secure Communities. The sheriff ends the county's participation in March 2012.
New American Welcome CenterThe residence halls
University Housing asks the Y to collect from the residence halls in place of its own Salvage Drive. The Y does so through 2019.
Dump & RunDACA workshops
The Y trains more than 50 volunteers to help about 100 young people apply for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
New American Welcome CenterThe Bailey Fellowship
The Fred S. Bailey Fellowship for graduate and professional students in community leadership, service and activism is created.
Bailey Scholarship ProgramThe Y keeps its principles
The board votes to stay in the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, giving up a promised $60,000 Catholic grant; ICIRR and local donors make up the loss.
New American Welcome CenterInternship and travel awards
The Unpaid Internship and International Service Travel scholarships begin.
Bailey Scholarship ProgramThe first Immigrant Welcome Awards
The C-U Immigration Forum holds its first Immigrant Welcome Awards.
New American Welcome Center37 tons
The Y counts 37 tons kept out of the landfill and $29,000 raised for its student programs.
Dump & RunChosen by YMCA of the USA
YMCA of the USA picks the University Y as one of six Ys to open New American Welcome Centers in 2017, joining 11 already open, with a $40,000 seed grant.
New American Welcome CenterThe center is launched
A press conference at the Y announces the New American Welcome Center and its community advisory committee, chaired by Ricardo Diaz.
New American Welcome CenterA founding director
Gloria Yen joins the staff as program coordinator for immigrant services and becomes the center's founding director.
New American Welcome CenterGateways for Growth
Champaign-Urbana is named one of 25 Gateways for Growth communities, with the Y as lead agency.
New American Welcome CenterThe first Welcoming Week
The center coordinates about 40 Welcoming Week events across Champaign County, as it has every year since.
New American Welcome CenterNew Americans in Champaign County
The Gateways for Growth report finds about 24,000 immigrants contributing $1.4 billion to the county's economy.
New American Welcome CenterCollections move to the Pavilion
With MCORE construction blocking the Y building, the spring collections move to the Stock Pavilion with a campus truck and driver.
Dump & RunLegal services
The Justice Department recognizes the Y to represent immigrants through its accredited staff.
New American Welcome CenterThe Immigrant Relief Fund in the pandemic
The fund pays out $293,150 to immigrant families shut out of federal relief between March 2020 and March 2021.
New American Welcome CenterEmergency aid
As the pandemic closes the campus, the Y offers emergency grants to Bailey Scholars.
Bailey Scholarship ProgramCancelled for COVID-19
The Board of Governors votes unanimously to cancel Dump & Run, the only year without a sale since 2002.
Dump & RunLatzer Hall restored
The hall's paneling, trusses and 1937 chandeliers are restored during the pandemic closure.
Our BuildingDump & Run returns
After a year off, the Y holds a community-only collection and a Wednesday–Thursday sale, netting almost $16,000.
Dump & RunThe Champaign County Welcoming Plan
The center releases a countywide plan for welcoming immigrants, with goals in five areas.
New American Welcome CenterAn August program
The Y decides to hold Dump & Run only in August and leave the spring move-out collection to the University.
Dump & RunIllini Hall's cornerstone comes home
As Illini Hall comes down, the Y recovers its 1907 time capsule, and later its stone seal.
Our BuildingThe campus spring collection
Facilities & Services and University Housing run their own spring move-out collection under the Dump & Run name.
Dump & RunA move to Lincoln Square
The center moves from the Y building to Lincoln Square in Urbana, the day Akua Forkuo-Sekyere succeeds Gloria Yen as director.
New American Welcome CenterLarger awards
The undergraduate scholarship rises to $4,000 and the graduate fellowship to $14,000.
Bailey Scholarship ProgramCertified Welcoming
With the center's help, Champaign becomes Illinois' first Certified Welcoming community.
New American Welcome CenterAccessible lower level
The basement restrooms are rebuilt for full accessibility with state funds.
Our BuildingA registered name
DUMP & RUN is registered as the University YMCA's service mark (No. 7,386,217).
Dump & RunFrancisco Baires returns
Francisco Baires, who ran La Línea in its first years, becomes the center's director.
New American Welcome CenterThe 24th Dump & Run
The 24th sale draws 4,163 shoppers and takes in $33,163, its most yet, with 100 volunteers giving 1,082 hours.
Dump & RunMore milestones will join as more histories are written. Know a date we should add, or spot an error? Write to hello.ymca@universityymca.org
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