IN THIS ISSUE:
Navy Pier to Here | 2005 UIC City & Corporate Award Recipient Profiles

FEATURE STORY (continued) — January/February 2005

From Navy Pier ...

The Pioneers

Faculty members share their experiences and memories about the early days

Robert Remini, historian and professor emeritus, las: You felt you were part of the construction process going on around you. As the buildings were going up, you were providing faculty programs, buying books and doing all the other things necessary to create an instant university. We had virtually nothing in the library. I remember taking trips to New York City to visit the bookstores on 42nd Street and buying nearly everything they had on their shelves.

William DeFotis, assistant professor and associate dean emeritus, eng: The era of the Vietnam War was a very hectic and turbulent time period. Even at our commuter school—which wasn't a hotbed of political activity such as the University of Wisconsin or Berkeley—we had demonstrations. It was oppressive for all of us. You were trying to teach and you didn't want to be distracted by other things, even if you held strong political views.

Robert Bryant, associate professor emeritus, eng: We had some very good students and some of them were really ingenious. The faculty used to have free parking at Navy Pier, and when we moved over to Circle Campus, the university started charging us to park. You had to buy a key card. Some engineering students came up with fake key cards and tried to sell them to faculty members. I thought that was pretty ingenious. I wasn't tempted, though, because I rode the train.