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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, In 1867, the University of Illinois at | ||||||
| 3 | Urbana-Champaign was founded as a land-grant
institution; it | ||||||
| 4 | became a beacon of education and knowledge for the community,
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| 5 | state, country, and world; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, In the wake of the Civil War and the assassination | ||||||
| 7 | of President Abraham
Lincoln, the promise of unqualified access | ||||||
| 8 | to the new university by Illinois citizens of all races
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| 9 | remained a long-deferred dream for African American citizens; | ||||||
| 10 | and
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| 11 | WHEREAS, Across the ensuing years, when the University of | ||||||
| 12 | Illinois admitted African
Americans they were not fully | ||||||
| 13 | welcomed to the campus; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, Following the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin | ||||||
| 15 | Luther King Jr. in 1968, African American
students and | ||||||
| 16 | community residents redoubled their commitment to the battle | ||||||
| 17 | for civil rights, and they
pushed the University of Illinois to | ||||||
| 18 | significantly and rapidly increase the enrollment of African | ||||||
| 19 | American students; and | ||||||
| 20 | WHEREAS, In 1968, through the groundbreaking Special | ||||||
| 21 | Educational Opportunities Program (Project
500), 565 newly | ||||||
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| 1 | admitted African Americans joined the student body and earned a | ||||||
| 2 | singular place in the
history of the University of Illinois; | ||||||
| 3 | and | ||||||
| 4 | WHEREAS, The local African American community and church | ||||||
| 5 | congregations opened their doors and
their hearts just as | ||||||
| 6 | quickly and warmly to these new students as they had done for | ||||||
| 7 | all like them
who had come to the University of Illinois in the | ||||||
| 8 | preceding decades; and | ||||||
| 9 | WHEREAS, These community members and organizations | ||||||
| 10 | throughout the cities of Champaign and
Urbana deserve special | ||||||
| 11 | recognition for their unwavering support of Project 500 | ||||||
| 12 | students in their
academic endeavors and in their lives beyond | ||||||
| 13 | the classroom; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, Today, as we celebrate 50 years of work in the | ||||||
| 15 | struggle for racial justice, progress, learning, and
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| 16 | achievement that was bolstered by Project 500, the cities of | ||||||
| 17 | Urbana and Champaign publicly have renewed their
commitment to | ||||||
| 18 | fostering communities that welcome and support all who come | ||||||
| 19 | there to live and learn; and
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| 20 | WHEREAS, The Project 500 alumni, through their words and | ||||||
| 21 | deeds, have fundamentally and forever changed
the University of | ||||||
| 22 | Illinois and the cities of Urbana and Champaign for the | ||||||
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| 1 | betterment of all of us; therefore, be it
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| 2 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 3 | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
| 4 | declare
September 28, 2018 as Project 500 Day in the State of | ||||||
| 5 | Illinois; and be it further
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| 6 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 7 | presented to Project 500 as a symbol of our respect and esteem.
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