It seems hard to believe, but 50 years ago today, staff members were distributing the first-ever student newspaper at SIUE. The past 50 years have taken the student body on a wild ride. Beginning at the Alton campus and East St. Louis Center, the Edwardsville campus was merely a vision when the first student newspaper was published.… Post the First Comment

The more things change... During Eugene Redmond's editorship in 1963-64, the newspaper staff was divided between the East St. Louis and Alton campuses. In earlier years, each campus had its own editor and the staffs rotated production for each weekly publication.… 1 Comment

Biological Sciences Professor Ralph Axtell has taught at SIUE for 47 of its 50 years of existence. Just three years shy of being at the birth of the university, Axtell is SIUE's longest working employee. Axtell began teaching biological sciences at SIUE on the Alton campus - what was Shurtleff College and what is now the School of Dental Medicine.… Post the First Comment

Many consider Harold W. See a "forgotten father" of SIUE. The following is a brief timeline of See's association with SIUE, beginning with his appointment as director of SIU's Southwestern Illinois residence centers and ending with his death in 2005. Aug.… Post the First Comment

The high noon sun beams into the glass dome roof of the Religious Center, creating a greenhouse effect. The light streaks into the room around opaque continents and through the transparent ocean of blue glass above. Looking up reveals an inverted map of the world.… Post the First Comment

In 1965, SIUE students didn't have much difficulty finding their classes. With only Peck Hall and Lovejoy Library to choose from, the "I got lost" excuse probably did not work very often. Today, with more than 30 buildings on campus, SIUE has grown in more than just enrollment over the past 50 years.… Post the First Comment

Imagine being a student at SIUE in the first few years of the university. Most students at that time lived at home with their families or found apartments near campus. Commuting was the only option, as residence halls were still off in the distant future.… Post the First Comment

While SIUE Dining Services now provides a wide variety of food for students, has a brand new dining area in the kitchen, and uses state-of-the-art equipment, this was not always the case. More than 30 years ago, before the Morris University Center existed, vending machines in the basement of Lovejoy Library were a student's only source of food on campus.… Post the First Comment

For an untold number of students, faculty and other members of the SIUE community, a single event dominated the out-of-class experience. For those people, some of the fondest memories are linked to a 62-foot-tall, 140-foot-wide white tent. It was a gathering point, a concert venue, an experience, an icon; it was the Mississippi River Festival.… Post the First Comment

When Don Browning attended acting class in SIUE's Communications Building in 1970 and 1971, he did not realize how the skills he learned as a theater and dance major would affect his career as a contractor. "I never realized how much of that I learned from them," Browning said.… Post the First Comment

They plotted in the basement men's restroom of the University Center. There, they parted with their clothes, except for a cowboy hat or a ski mask in some cases, all the while whooping and building up the courage to face the crowds. "It's nice and warm outside," the organizer said in an Alestle interview, as reported in the newspaper's March 8, 1974, edition.… Post the First Comment

On any given day, anyone on campus can see groups of people with spray paint, huddled around the large boulder in the center of the Stratton Quadrangle. The Rock, located in the middle of the Stratton Quadrangle, has been a symbol of student life at SIUE since the campus' construction.… Post the First Comment