Hello, and welcome to the introductory episode of the Learning and Labor Podcast. My name is Niko Johnson-Fuller and I use he/him pronouns.
The audio you just heard outlined one perspective about the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. There’s some truth in that story about what UIUC is. But there is also a lot missing. My goal in this podcast is to tell some of those missing stories. Specifically, I’ll be exploring different topics relating to the politics and history of UIUC in each episode. These stories will span different eras of our university’s history, different places on campus, and connections between UIUC and the rest of our Illinois,  the US and the world.

As I have spent time as a student at UIUC, I have grown increasingly fascinated with exploring the deep history and intrinsic politics elements of our University. I think understanding the context of where you are can be an enriching experience, which can help you appreciate the place you are in more. But its more than just that - a deeper understanding of the context you find yourself in can also help you change it. If you know me at all, you’ll know that I think there is a lot of things that need to change in the world, and at UIUC. I want to be transparent going into this project that part of my motivation is to tell stories that motivate that change.

I also want to talk a little bit about the title of this podcast. Learning and Labor is the motto of UIUC. Its origins stem from the inaugural ceremony of the university, an anthem written by John Milton Gregory, its first president,was performed. The second verse of the anthem included the following lines: “And Learning and Labor—fit head for fit hand—Shall crown with twin glories our broad prairie land.” This is where the motto traces its origin. While not stated directly here, the meaning of this from the beginning has to do with the industrial and agricultural focus of the university. Learning and Labor was meant to symbolize the combination of more theoretical science typically found in academia at that time (learning), with a more practical application in agriculture and industry (labor).

While important, especially to UIUC’s early history, this meaning is not why I chose this title for the podcast. To me, learning and  labor represents the ideal of what UIUC can be. For learning, this means creating a space where everyone can seek out the education they desire without barriers to access. For labor, this means respect and fair treatment for the workers and labor which makes the university possible. Of course, learning and labor isn’t everything. The university has broader responsibilities to the local community, marginalized groups and society as a whole, which are essential too. 

UIUC does acknowledge some of these responsibilities, but I think what is interesting about all of them, including the aspirations represented by the motto Learning and Labor, is comparing these stated values to reality. In many ways, from their treatment of workers and the labor unions that represent them, to the level of accommodation and support for students on campus, to the handling of UIUC’s intrinsic connection to settler colonialism,  and many more issues, I don’t think UIUC lives up to their stated values. That contradiction, between what UIUC is supposed to represent, and where it is actually at, is why I chose this title. The motto Learning and Labor, whatever your interpretation of it, represents one part of the ideal of UIUC. But whenever I see the various manifestations of Learning and Labor on campus, whether it be the statues at Alma Mater, or the inscription on the Hallene Gateway on the edge of campus, I think not just about the ideals of what UIUC can be, but how we can change things to get there. 

The natural starting point for this vision is the founding of the university, and specifically the connection between UIUC’s land grant origins and stolen indigenous land. Episode 1 will begin to explore that topic, and it will be available within a few days of this episode’s release.  

Thank you so much for listening to this introduction to the learning and labor podcast, which I am calling episode 0. The sources for this episode and every episode I make will be in the show notes. Bye bye.