Joseph S. Rank

, Joseph Rank, Vice President, Membership, University of Illinois Alumni Association

Joseph Rank, University of Illinois Alumni Band

The UI Alumni Association issues a credit card through Bank of America, but even though all current students are automatic Alumni Association members, they're not included in the credit-card offer, said membership Vice President Joe Rank.
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Rank said most abuses don't come from banks or credit companies that have formal arrangements with universities, but from generic credit-card companies that set up a table in front of a business on Green Street.

, Joseph Rank, Vice President, University of Illinois Alumni Association

"This whole issue of recognizing those who died in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, has been bubbling in the background for many years," said Joseph Rank, the Alumni Association's vice president for membership and a retired Navy commander and Vietnam veteran."We built a magnificent memorial to the fallen Illini of World War I, and nothing was done for World War II.By the time Korea and Vietnam and subsequent conflicts came along, no one really kept records of who served and who died."The Alumni Association is now putting together a list of names of those from the UI who died in military service.The memorial will consist of bronze plaques listing the names, to be placed in the vestibules leading to the colonnades that line the sides of Memorial Stadium.The columns there are inscribed with the names of the 189 Illini who died in World War I.The memorial will be dedicated on Veterans Day this fall at the Illinois-Ohio State football game, followed by an Armed Services Reunion.
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Plans for the memorial came about after the Sept. 11 attacks, in a conversation last fall between Rank and retired Adm.
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"It was really right after 9/11, and that was one of those pivotal events that makes us all take stock," Rank said."I think there was an appreciation that came out of that for those who protect and serve.People for the first time in a long time were thinking about the people who serve in the armed forces and are police officers and firefighters."
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"When we looked at various design possibilities and locations and types of memorials, it really dawned on us that the university really had the ideal memorial in Memorial Stadium," Rank said."Rather than build something that would take away from Memorial Stadium and would cost a lot of money, the committee has recommended to the chancellor and the president that the 1924 dedication of Memorial Stadium be extended to include all Illinois alumni, students, faculty and staff who died in all wars."The estimated cost for the memorial in the stadium is between $50,000 and $75,000.While it could be easily paid for with a single donation from an alumnus or business, Rank said the committee is seeking "small but meaningful" donations from alumni with military connections.It is launching a campaign next week with mailing to 16,000 alumni who are military veterans or participated in the ROTC program or wartime training programs at the UI.Donors can make their contributions in the name of someone.

"I think it's really an important thing, particularly for the families," said Joseph Rank, the UI Alumni Association's vice president for membership, a retired Navy commander and Vietnam veteran.Plans for the memorial plaques began shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, in a conversation between Rank and retired Adm.

Joe Rank, left, vice president of the University of Illinois Alumni Association, and Calvin Filson, UI class of 1943, unveil a refurbished bass drum during a rehearsal of the UI Alumni Band on Friday in the Harding band building on the UI campus in Champaign.

Joe Rank, Staff Liaison

Joseph S. Rank, BS '69, MS '73 Commander, U.S. Navy ( Retired)