Description
"The 500 Program and the Incidents at the Union" addresses a number of things surrounding the attitudes of different people on campus. Following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the University of Illinois decided to bring in 500 "disadvantaged" students. They came from various places across the country, including Illinois, Philadelphia, Watts, and Birmingham. They were promised a number of things regarding financial aid and housing. When the university did not keep up on those things, the students began asking questions. They were not given the amount of loan money they were promised and they were told that they may have to work, another thing the university had told them would not have to happen. After their arrival they were placed in the Illinois Street Residence Halls, but as the school year came closer they were moved into small rooms and lounges that were falling apart. All of these things led up to the night of the September 9, 1968.