CHAMPAIGN — The family of former University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Dean Clarence Shelley is asking the Champaign City Council to rename a portion of John Street to honor his 50 years of service to the campus and its minority students.
Dana Vickers Shelley, Dean Shelley’s daughter, said the memorial would hold special meaning her family — but it would also serve as a reminder of her father’s legacy to students and faculty on campus.
“Daddy’s contribution was being a leader, a champion, an advocate and a sounding board for young people, college students, young professionals and folks in the community,” Dana Vickers Shelley said.
The honorary street sign would be placed on the block of John Street between Wright and Sixth Street. The block was chosen because it includes the first and last buildings where Dean Shelley served the University, including the Swanlund Administration Building.
Dean Shelley came to the U of I in 1968 after a nationwide push to recruit African-American students and ensure their success in higher education in the wake of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.
He oversaw the Special Education Opportunity Program, which sought to recruit around 500 Black students from across the Midwest to the university. The program, also known as Project 500, raised Black student retention rates on campus.
The initiative led to 565 African American and Latino students being admitted in 1968.
Dana Vickers Shelley said that her father fostered positive relationships between White faculty and Black students as well as greater acceptance of all minority groups on campus.
“Black students had a champion in my dad in terms of advocating for them with their classes, encouraging them in terms of the classes they were going to and their relationships with other students,” Dana Vickers Shelley said.
Dean Shelley served as dean of students, assistant vice chancellor, associate vice chancellor for student affairs, and finally the special assistant to the chancellor during his tenure at the University. He died in 2022 at the age of 90.
Dean Shelley’s family has been working with the university since his death to formally commemorate his legacy on campus, but that memorial is still in development.
The Champaign City Council will consider the request during tomorrow’s regular study session at the Champaign City Building at 7 p.m. Dana Vickers Shelley said some of the 500 students her father recruited in his original program plan on speaking in support of the measure.