Academic Genocide
As the students brought in by Project 500 became graduate students, their attentions shifted from protesting for cultural programs and equality to graduating. This led to a decrease in black power on campus and black decision making.
At the same time, University programs designed for the educational assistance of black and minority students were increasingly not properly maintained or funded. These declines resulted in incoming black students not being able to mount the obstacles of financial aid, housing, and guidance. This became a common reality evidenced in the almost immediate decrease of black students at the University of Illinois after the SEOP.
The letter to the right was written by Gerald Jackson and came out of the office of admissions in 1969. It explains the growing problems that minority students faced in higher education. It also detailed tighter SEOP requirements for the coming year. Its main points were that the program suffered from a lack of funds, increasing competition to get into the program. It accurately portrayed a precurser of hard times to come for the SEOP program, as well as the many bright students of color looking to enroll at the University of Illinois.