As Freeport residents and leaders of the Memorial Stadium Society, we are writing to alert the stateline community to a critical effort regarding one of Illinois’ most sacred landmarks.
Memorial Stadium in Champaign was built as a “living memorial” to 189 students and alumni who died in World War I. Their names are etched into the stadium’s 200 limestone pillars — an eternal tribute funded by the small donations of thousands of citizens who believed this honor was permanent.
Recently, the University of Illinois Board of Trustees voted to rename the facility “Gies Memorial Stadium” following a large corporate donation. We believe that adding a commercial name to a war memorial is a breach of the public trust and diminishes the sacrifice of the fallen.
We are proud to announce that the Memorial Stadium Society has officially joined forces with State Rep. Steve Reick. Together, we are championing a House Joint Resolution that would formally restore the name to simply “Memorial Stadium.”
We invite our neighbors in the Rockford area to stand with us in preserving this heritage. A war memorial is not a billboard for sale.
Our online petition website can be found at Google petition our memorial stadium or directly at ipetitions.com/petition/our-memorial-stadium.
Jim and Gwynne French, Freeport
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: UI Memorial Stadium name is sacred and shouldn’t be changed | Letter
Reporting by Jim and Gwynne French, Special to the Rockford Register Star / Rockford Register Star
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