The University of Illinois Springfield is celebrating its 40th anniversary. The school has awarded more than 32,000 degrees over the last four decades.
UIS was founded in 1970 as Sangamon State University. At its birth the 700 plus acre campus was only an upper division university.
"It was a couple of buildings and a cornfield and when we first started classes we actually started them in downtown Springfield. The campus wasn't quite ready," said Joan Sestak, director of Community Relations at UIS.
The seed was planted. In 1995, SSU became the 3rd campus of the University of Illinois. Naomi Lynn was chancellor at the time.
"It was challenging. It was interesting because we had to adapt from Sangamon State University to become the 3rd campus of the University of Illinois, but it was also very rewarding. We knew it was the right thing to do," said Lynn.
WICS-TV 20 spotlighted the 40th anniversary in an October 16, 2010, report.
Watch the story on News Channel 20's website
