Kev Murphy discusses queer campus life at the University of Illinois. Kev and their roommates and friends founded GayBar, a house show venue on the Urbana side of campus, to establish a safe space for LGBTQ+ students to go out and meet each other. They hosted DJ events and community parties, like sapphic night and drag night. The venue was very popular on campus, as lines wrapped around the street and capacity was frequently reached. The venue ran as a house show from 2023 until 2025. Kev is still involved in the community and continues GayBar as a traveling queer space, partnering with Gallery Art Bar in Urbana and Amy’s Place in Champaign. Kev also talks about their experience with RSOs on campus, their interest in the house show scene, and their work as a community member.
Kevin Suchinski, Superintendent, Hillside School District 93, SHIELD Illinois External Stakeholder. Oral history conducted for inclusion in the COVID-19 Documentation Project, a collaboration between the University of Illinois Archives and the University of Illinois System.
Khalia matriculated as an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois in 2021. Originally from Chicago, IL, Khalia recounts what it was like moving to Wheaton, IL, at age seven and attending a predominantly white school as a young Black girl. Later she discusses her decision to attend the University of Illinois, the development of her political identity and personal interests, and how her identities as a revolutionary queer, Black person have shaped her community building experiences at the University and in other spaces.
Kimberly (Kim) Bertini, Director of Nursing Excellence and Magnet Program Director, University of Illinois Hospital & Health Science System. Oral history conducted for inclusion in the COVID-19 Documentation Project, a collaboration between the University of Illinois Archives and the University of Illinois System.
Klara Nahrstedt is the Ralph M. and Catherine V. Fisher Professor as well as the Director of the Coordinated Science Laboratory at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. She joined the Computer Sciences Department in 1995, after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with her Ph.D. in Computer and Information Sciences. Nahrstedt has received a number of awards and accolades for her many accomplishments in the field. She is both an IEEE and ACM Fellow.
Klara Nahrstedt is the Ralph M. and Catherine V. Fisher Professor as well as the Director of the Coordinated Science Laboratory at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. She joined the Computer Sciences Department in 1995, after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with her Ph.D. in Computer and Information Sciences. Nahrstedt has received a number of awards and accolades for her many accomplishments in the field. She is both an IEEE and ACM Fellow.
L.C. arrived at the University of Illinois in 2013 as a librarian and enrolled in the PhD program for information science in 2020. In this interview, he explains what it was like growing up in Grovetown, Georgia, shares his educational journey, and discusses his placemaking experiences as a Black transmasculine student and staff member at the University of Illinois.
Laouida Glover was born in Batesville, Mississippi. She was attracted to the University of Illinois through a Project 500 Newspaper flyer promising free tuition for college. Her mother, Thelma Thomas Glover Childress, was active in the Civil Rights Movement. She talks about the influences her upbringing and experiences at the University of Illinois had on her journey to becoming a lawyer.
