Champaign is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropolitan area. It is included in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area.
The University of Illinois System is a system of public universities in Illinois consisting of three universities: Chicago, Springfield, and Urbana-Champaign. Across its three universities, the University of Illinois System enrolls more than 94,000 students. It had an operating budget of $7.18 billion in 2021.
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University of Illinois system and was founded in 1867. Enrolling over 56,000 undergraduate and graduate students, the University of Illinois is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the country.
The Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, also known as Champaign–Urbana and Urbana–Champaign as well as Chambana (colloquially), is a metropolitan area in east-central Illinois. As defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the metropolitan area has a population of 222,538 as of the 2020 U.S. Census, which ranks it as the 207th largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. The area is anchored by the principal cities of Champaign and Urbana, and is home to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system.
The Illini Media Company is a nonprofit, student media company based in Champaign, Illinois. The company owns several student-run media outlets associated with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: the general newspaper, the Daily Illini; the entertainment paper, Buzz Magazine; the engineering quarterly, Technograph; the U of I yearbook, the Illio; and the commercial radio station, WPGU.
Chief Illiniwek was the mascot of the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign (UIUC), associated with the university's intercollegiate athletic programs, from October 30, 1926, to February 21, 2007. Chief Illiniwek was portrayed by a student to represent the Illiniwek, the state's namesake, although the regalia worn was from the Sioux. The student portraying Chief Illiniwek performed during halftime of Illinois football and basketball games, as well as during women's volleyball matches.
The Champaign–Urbana Mass Transit District is a mass transit system that operates in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area in eastern Illinois. MTD is headquartered in Urbana and operates its primary hub at the intermodal Illinois Terminal in downtown Champaign. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 7,797,100, or about 30,200 per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2022.
WPGU is a fully commercial, student-run college radio station on the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Champaign, Illinois. It broadcasts an alternative rock radio format and other programming throughout Champaign-Urbana and surrounding communities. It is owned independently from the university by the Illini Media Company.
The Illinois Fighting Illini are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports.
WILL-FM is a public, listener-supported radio station owned by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and licensed to Urbana, Illinois, United States. It is operated by Illinois Public Media, with studios located at Campbell Hall for Public Telecommunication on the university campus. Most of WILL-FM's schedule is classical music with NPR news programs heard in weekday morning and afternoon drive times. Weekends feature classical and other genres of music, including jazz and opera.
The Marching Illini (MI) is the marching band of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The Marching Illini is an organization which annually includes approximately 400 students enrolled in the University of Illinois. Part of the College of Fine and Applied Arts and Illini Athletics, the Marching Illini represent virtually every college, discipline, and major on the university's diverse Urbana-Champaign campus.
Oskee Wow-Wow is the official fight song of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The song was written in 1910 by two students: Harold Vater Hill '11 (1889–1917), credited with the music, and Howard Ruggles Green '12 (1890–1969), credited with the lyrics.
The McFarland Carillon, sometimes referred to as the McFarland Bell Tower or McFarland Memorial Bell Tower is a 185-foot (56 m) bell tower located on the South Quad of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The tower was approved by the University's trustees in 2005 and built in 2008-2009. It was designed by Fred Guyton of Peckham, Guyton, Albers & Viets. The carillon has 48 bells.
Tina Weedon Smith Memorial Hall, located at 805 S. Mathews Avenue in Urbana, Illinois, is an historic building on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Smith Hall is located just off the main quad of campus and is just east of Foellinger Auditorium. The building was constructed in 1917-21 and was designed in the Beaux-Arts style by James M. White and George E. Wright.
The Ohio State University Men's Glee Club is an all-male choral ensemble at The Ohio State University. Officially founded in 1875, the Men's Glee Club is one of the oldest student organizations on Ohio State's campus and one of the oldest collegiate glee clubs in the United States. The group has garnered many accolades, most notably winning Choir of the World 1990 from the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.
A guitalin is a Northern American folk instrument that is a part of the lute family, having four courses of strings. Its fourth course is tuned to an octave while the remaining courses are tuned in unisons. The instrument can be either finger picked or plucked with a plectrum. It was invented in October 1962 by Lyle Mayfield of Greenville, Illinois. The guitalin is a non-traditional, hybrid folk instrument, as it incorporates features of multiple traditional folk instruments into one. While the original tuning consisted of a G chord in root position, the standard tuning of the guitalin which was adopted is a C chord in second inversion. Another common tuning is a second inversion G chord.
The Champaign-Decatur CSA, also known as East Central Illinois CSA, is a combined statistical area in the U.S. State of Illinois. It is the 104th largest combined statistical area in the U.S. It is composed of four counties, Champaign, Ford, Piatt and Macon.
"Hail to the Orange" is the alma mater of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Its alternate version, "Hail to the Purple," is an official song of the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon. The song was written in 1910 by two students: Harold Vater Hill, credited with the music, and Howard Ruggles Green, credited with the lyrics.
John Garvey was an American musician, orchestra leader, and academic who played viola in the Walden String Quartet for 23 seasons, introduced a jazz curriculum at the University of Illinois, and created its Jazz Big Band which he led until his retirement from the university in 1991. The jazz band dominated collegiate jazz festival awards in its early days and in 1969 was chosen by the state department to tour the USSR and Eastern Europe. Many members of Garvey's jazz bands went on to successful careers as professional musicians and academics.
The Senior Memorial Chime, known more commonly as the Altgeld Chimes, is a 15-bell chime in Altgeld Hall Tower on the central campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, in Urbana, Illinois, United States.
