students sitting in the grass, petting Colonel Rock, the bulldog live mascot students sitting in the grass, petting Colonel Rock, the bulldog live mascot

It Starts Here

Leathernecks create, lead, and dare to stand out

Academic Program Spotlight

Agriculture

  • 100+ year program history
  • 300 full-functioning acres of university owned agricultural laboratories minutes from campus
  • 77 acre organic certified farm (Allison Farm) that has been chemical free since 1959
  • Nationally ranked judging teams
  • Only Illinois institution to offer courses in Urban Forestry with 10 minors available, including the new Cannabis Cultivation minor

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Center for Performing Arts Construction Underway

The Center for Performing Arts will cement the foundation of excellence that is performing arts at Western Illinois University. When the center is complete, WIU will be THE destination for arts and culture in our region and beyond.

—Billy Clow, Dean, College of Fine Arts and Communication

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Do art and music make us smarter humans? WIU Professor Discovers Answers in Our Genes

Are music and the arts key to smarter, more efficient human minds? Our research finds supporting evidence in traditional indigenous knowledge systems and in some of our earliest, uniquely-human genes.

— Andrea Alveshere, Associate Professor, Anthropology and Chemistry

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Creating a World of Innovation: WIU Physics Chair Part of National Quantum Information Science Teaching Team

Our goal is to not only introduce the students to the magical world of quantum, but also to get them excited about it and its future promise for the development of ultra-powerful quantum computers and other quantum technologies.

— Kishor T. Kapale, Chair, Department of Physics

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