Colleges/Departments

Upcoming Alumni & Friends Events

Popular Links

Recent Alumni & Friends Events Around the World

• Boston
• Town & Gown
• 4th Annual All Leatherneck Reunion
• Student vs. Alumni Basketball
• WIU vs. Iowa Baseball
• Portland
• Seattle

4th Annual Student vs. Alumni Basketball Game

Visit WIU mobile, and enter Leatherneck Country right from your phone at m.wiu.edu!

University Libraries

Dr. Elizabeth A. Kaspar Women's Lecture for University Libraries

University Libraries is pleased to announce the establishment of the Dr. Elizabeth A. Kaspar Women’s Lecture for University Libraries. Dr. Kaspar, a member of the former educational foundations department (now educational and interdisciplinary studies), was on campus Friday, April 22, to finalize the details. Kaspar has contributed $25,000 to endow a permanent lecture series for University Libraries during Women’s History Month for current and future Western Illinois University students, faculty, staff and the community.

According to Kaspar, “Creating a lecture series to highlight accomplished women by bringing them to Western  means a great deal to me. I think it is important for our students, especially our women students, to be inspired by women who have excelled in their fields. Too, I want them to be reminded that they can be or do anything they want. Since March is Women’s History Month, it is the most appropriated time for the lectures to take place.”

Kaspar’s efforts to eliminate gender inequity on this campus are legendary. She is credited with developing the first Women’s Studies course at WIU, leading to the eventual Women’s Studies curriculum, and for chairing WIU’s first Committee on the Status of Women, a committee charged with the comparative investigation of salaries and ranks of male and female faculty, plus departmental hiring practices. She received the Western Organization for Women (WOW) Achievement Award in 1990-91. She served as vice president for the Illinois State Commission on Women  for which she arranged hearings at the capitol in Springfield related to the hiring and promotion of women faculty at all of the state universities in Illinois. Kaspar was also vice president and president of the Foundation for the National Association of State Commissions on Women that met annually in Washington, D.C. In September 2010, she was honored by local artist Constance “Connie” Berg through dedication of the sculpture, “Furious Flower,” installed in the WIU Multicultural Center as a constant reminder of Kaspar’s achievements. 

Kaspar is a native of Louisville and Shelbyville, Kentucky. She taught and served as dean of women at the Westhampton College of the University of Richmond and Albion College before coming to Western in 1965. “I have worked with women my entire career, always assisting women in some way long before the term feminist was even coined,” said Kaspar. “I was asked to study and oversee concerns relating to women on our campus by President John Bernhard. This lecture series is in keeping with my commitment to women students and their futures.”

“University Libraries is honored to be the recipient of such a generous gift,” said University Libraries dean Phyllis Self. “Dr. Kaspar has been a tireless supporter of University Libraries and we are ecstatic to provide a lecture series that will impact the entire campus community, while honoring a library advocate.” 

University Libraries is currently working with Dr. Kaspar to bring the first lecturer to campus in March of 2012.

Photo, l-r: Vice President of Advancement & Public Services Brad Bainter, President Al Goldfarb, Dr. Elizabeth Kaspar and Dean of University Libraries Phyllis Self.