This Month in Illinois State History: November

This November, Illinois State University marks four distinct milestones—from a 2008 gift of literacy to a 2006 playoff victory—that trace the arc of a century-old institution in Bloomington-Normal. Tom Emery explored moments spanning November 1 through November 25 that reveal how one campus has shaped education, entertainment, and athletics across generations of students and alumni.

The month opens with National Family Literacy Day on November 1, a date that honors the vision of Jean Borg, a 1950 alumna whose generosity created the Mary and Jean Borg Center for Reading and Literacy. But the story doesn’t stop with reading. It moves through a 1989 concert by Gloria Estefan at Redbird Arena, the 1974 birth of student television station TV-10, and a football rivalry with Eastern Illinois University that has defined Redbird athletics since 1901.

Jean Borg’s Gift of Reading on November 1

Jean Borg arrived at Illinois State in the late 1940s at her mother’s urging, aided by a state scholarship earned through her father’s World War I Army service. Born in Elgin on April 30, 1928, she enjoyed a close relationship with her mother Mary, a nurse who strongly supported women’s rights. Borg graduated in 1950 with a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences and education, taught in various high schools, then earned a master’s degree in counselor education at the University of Illinois in 1962 before working as a high school counselor.

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In 1972, she moved to Florida, where she served for more than two decades as a faculty member in curriculum and instruction at the University of South Florida. She served on a national commission to promote teacher professional development, co-authored instruction manuals, and conducted seminars nationwide. When she died at age 95 on May 26, 2023, she left behind the Mary and Jean Borg Center for Reading and Literacy, dedicated on September 17, 2008, on the third floor of DeGarmo Hall.

The center offers top-tier tutoring for elementary and middle-school students and leads important research into curriculum development, how students’ reading interests are shaped, teaching methods, cultural influences in classrooms, multilingual education, and fairness in early childhood learning. At the 2008 dedication, President Al Bowman told Borg:

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“You are giving the most precious gift of all—the gift of reading.” President Al Bowman

Borg also established the Jean M. Borg Endowed Scholarship for students pursuing careers teaching biological sciences, the Mary R. Borg Endowed Scholarship in her mother’s honor, and the Jean M. Borg Campus Enhancement Endowment.

Gloria Estefan’s Musical Fiesta on November 11

On November 11, 1989, five-time Grammy winner Gloria Estefan brought her “musical fiesta” to Redbird Arena during Parents’ Day weekend. The Cuban-American artist, then newly credited as a solo performer after years with the Miami Sound Machine, had already sold over 100 million records worldwide and earned recognition from both VH1 and Billboard as one of the Top 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Between 1985 and 2011, she had 21 singles reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Latin Songs, or Adult Contemporary charts.

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Estefan had just recovered from a week-long illness that forced her to cancel four tour dates, and four months later she would suffer a cervical spine fracture when her tour bus collided in Pennsylvania—yet she delivered a 90-minute performance that thrilled the crowd. She began the show with “Conga” and finished with “Get on Your Feet,” also performing “Anything for You,” “Cuts Both Ways,” and “Don’t Want to Lose You.” The Vidette reported that the concert featured a colorful light show with geometric figures resembling the sun against a white backdrop, plus an astounding sax solo and unique drum solo, and noted that “this concert was quite different than most rock/pop concerts.” Following that performance in Normal, Estefan went on to earn the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2017.

TV-10 Trains Broadcasters on November 21

World Television Day falls on November 21, and at Illinois State, the student-run TV-10 has embodied that mission since signing on March 18, 1974. What began as a nervous black-and-white broadcast—covered by The Vidette under the headline “TV-10 News Debuts with Jitters”—has evolved into a digital, high-definition operation. The original newsroom was in the Old Union building while the studio was in Metcalf School, causing much running back and forth between locations.

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The first news director, Jeff Hawkinson, a veteran of Peoria radio who later worked at WEEK-TV from 1975-86, wanted students trained “to react like a commercial station in judging news values.” Hawkinson died in February 2010 at age 63. He was joined by first production director Martin Grindeland, later a faculty member at Minnesota State – Moorhead. Students serve as anchors, reporters, photographers, and news writers while editing stories and producing weather forecasts under faculty supervision. The station settled in Fell Hall in 1992, went digital in 2009, and switched to high-definition in 2016. Dozens of TV-10 alumni now work in top media markets nationwide, and 44 are enshrined in the Illinois State University Broadcast Hall of Fame as of 2024, as Illinois State News detailed.

The Mid-America Classic on November 25

The month closes with a rivalry in Redbird football history. On November 25, 2006, Illinois State defeated Eastern Illinois University 24-13 in the first round of the FCS playoffs, securing a pair of interception returns for touchdowns in a matchup of a series dating to 1901. The schools have met 112 times, with Illinois State holding a 62-43-9 advantage in what is the oldest FCS rivalry in Illinois and the 13th-oldest in the nation.

This Month in Illinois State History: November

The 2006 playoff game capped a banner year that included a September meeting in Normal where both teams were nationally ranked for the first time—No. 7 Illinois State rallied from a 10-0 first-quarter deficit to beat No. 18 Eastern Illinois 44-30. In 2012, the rivalry earned the official name Mid-America Classic, and that year the teams played the highest-scoring game in series history, a 54-51 Illinois State victory that produced 105 total points. Only one meeting has gone to overtime: a 34-31 Redbird win at Charleston on September 20, 2015. Memorable moments include a 1915 scoreless tie in Charleston, a 1959 snow game that ended 6-6, and a 1962 game where Paul Whitmore returned a punt 91 yards for a touchdown in a 6-0 win.

From the Borg Center’s tutoring rooms to the TV-10 control room and the gridiron, these November dates show how Illinois State has connected classroom learning to community impact for more than a century.