For those of you who may not remember, it wasn’t always students posing atop the vacant marble slab just outside Altgeld Hall. After temporarily leaving her post for restoration in August 2012, as well as a slight tease of her reappearance for the Class of 2013’s commencement, the 10,000-pound Alma Mater statue is said to return to campus for May commencement — we hope. 

With an extra year of restoration and over $200,000 above the estimated cost, Alma is receiving the full treatment: bolt replacements, laser cleaning to fix corrosion, wax seal to protect the metal. And with these changes will come a new Alma — a bronze-colored and improved Alma. 

Just as Alma last waved farewell to the outgoing Class of 2012 donning a green flowing, antiqued robe, she will send off the Class of 2014 with a brand new look. But many students are hesitant to embrace Alma’s face-lift — frankly, we’re all a little hesitant to accept change, especially when it’s as meaningful as this one. 

But Alma’s restoration goes beyond her appearance — her transformation is also symbolic of changes the University has gone through, too. In 1962, Alma was moved from her former resting place near Foellinger Auditorium to the corner of Green and Wright streets. At the same time, David D. Henry was nearly halfway through his presidential tenure following WWII, the number of dorms on campus tripled and the Graduate College saw rapid growth. In 1981, Alma faced her first round of repairs from the University, primarily fixing rusty bolts and parts. At the same time, the former University of Illinois renamed itself to what we know it by today: the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

The University and the Alma Mater are ever-changing. While many of us will miss the old green Alma that welcomed our campus with open arms, it’s time for her to change, just as our University has been changing around her.