Campus Cultures Receive the Spotlight with Union’s Passive Display Program
At universities around the world, the student union is considered the living room of the campus. It is the most visited building, providing an array of services designed to meet the needs of as many members of the campus community as possible. It’s also a place where students, faculty, staff, and others can be introduced to members of the campus community they may not have interacted with, a goal the Illini Union at the University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign is purposefully trying to meet through simple, reoccurring public and passive displays.
Created in 2023 when the Illini Union as part of the Cultural and Religious Celebrations Program, the displays are an ever-changing visual celebration of different cultural and religious days of observance. Working with and assisted by a variety of campus stakeholders, union staff design as many as 13 different displays each academic year.
Working from a list of religious observances provided by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Access, Civil Rights & Community that affect the academic calendar, Illini Union staff create displays that are in the main lobby of the union by working with representative campus partners. There are 27 different religious observances listed on the Civil Rights & Community’s website in just the current semester, so there are plenty of opportunities to work from. Past passive religious displays in the lobby have recognized Jainism, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Interfaith/African American, Interfaith/National, Daoism, Confucianism, Islam, and Sikhism. The list of religious observances the vice chancellor’s office provides can be found here, with the calendar running through mid-2027.
The display includes a table that represents how the day of observance may be viewed in a typical household, accompanied by a storyboard that provides a glimpse of the history, terminology, traditions, activities, and other aspects of the observance. Campus partners contribute the text for the storyboards and a list of items that can be purchased for the table display and often assist with the assembly and the disassembly of the displays.
Some of the partners and associated observances have included the Department of African Studies (Kwanzaa), Cultural Houses; La Casa Cultural Latina (Dia Dos Muertos), Asian American Cultural Center (Lunar New Year), and student organizations like the Jain Student Association (Paryushana), UIUC ThaiSA (Loy Krathong), and religious organizations such as Hillel Center (Hanukkah and Passover) and the Newman Center (Christmas and Easter).
“These celebrations are a means for educating and an opportunity for some honor and pride for those who celebrate the days of observance,” said Ryan A. Moore, interim assistant director of student programs and activities at the Illini Union. “Students of a particular religion are often seen posing or taking selfies with the displays, others not connected to the religion or observance being displayed are regularly seen reading the storyboards and looking intently at the display. It’s just another great way to bring the campus together.”
Some of the logistics include placing stanchions around the display with signs stating, “Do Not Touch or Remove Items from Display,” and contributing partners are not to provide any items that would be great value in case they were lost. Union staff work from a pre-determined budget in making purchases for the exhibits (about $100 each display), with some displays not requiring that much investment, while others may exceed the amount.
“We make sure it works out in the end,” Moore said.
