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Faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members are invited to celebrate the founding of Western at the 30th annual Founders' Day Celebration at 8:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 22 on the front steps of Sherman Hall, where classes were held for the first time 121 years ago.
In 1899, a bill to establish Western Illinois University (then called Western Illinois State Normal School) was passed by the state legislature. Macomb was selected in 1900 as the location for the new normal school in west central Illinois, and on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 1902, Western Illinois State Normal School opened its doors for the first official day of classes on the new campus.