Eleanor Saunders Towns Oral History

Eleanor Saunders Towns eyes were initially set on Howard University, but an administrative error redirected her to the University of Illinois in 1961. Towns was a State Champion High School Debater, so she decided to study Drama with plans on teaching speech. She recounts her experience as one of around 200 black students on campus as unique compared to other black students because she came from a majority - white high school in Rockford, Illinois. The Deltas’ emphasis on scholarship and opportunity for a connection to the black community on campus attracted her most to the sorority.