Irish Illini is the Irish student philanthropic group at the University of Illinois. They host many social events on campus, and are associated with St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, and the infamous Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

It is a common misconception, however,  that the Irish Illini are the organizers of the tradition of Unofficial. “The main thing we do is sell t-shirts,” said Charlie Knibbs, Irish Illini President. “We call them the official unofficial t-shirts. The money goes to our charity events like Relay for Life and the St. Baldrick’s Foundation.” The local bars are actually the main source of Unofficial planning.

About two years ago Irish Illini was suspended as an RSO for “[advertising] the availability of alcohol for their members.” This left the group with a slightly tarnished reputation, but has been doing a lot of charity work recently to improve. “We do a blood drive every semester,” said Knibbs, “and for St. Baldrick’s our members are going to get donations to shave their heads.”

You can find the Irish Illini on their Facebook group and through their email listserv. Their Facebook group, with over 1000 members, is where members sign up to be on the listserv and plan future events.

This is the second in our series on Unofficial. Check back for more stories in the future.

NOTE: For Unofficial 2010, please see our updated post

Unofficial is a holiday at the University of Illinois that students celebrate 1-2 weeks before St. Patrick’s Day. Created because St. Patrick’s Day often falls during Spring Break, it is a celebration that closely resembles St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in other cities: green clothing, green beer, and greetings of “top of the morning to ye’.”

The date of Unofficial 2009 will be March 6, 2009.

Recently, Unofficial celebrations have taken on a negative connotation. As Urban Dictionary puts it, “The day is marked by bars opening at 8 in the morning, kegs on front lawns, students from nearly all surrounding schools flooding the campus to celebrate by drinking obscene amounts of alcohol. It has been said that more drinking occurs on Unofficial at U of I than occurs at many other school’s entire years.”

Every year the issue becomes a hot-button issue on the Illinois campus around mid-Febuary as the holiday approaches. Everyone has an opinion:
The News-Gazette: Unofficial Stories
The News-Gazette: Unofficial-ly Live – Not just the Irish Illini
The Online Gargoyle: Unofficial
The Daily Illini Letters to the Editor: Unofficial needs changes
The Daily Illini Letters to the Editor: Students should devote less energy to Unofficial
The Daily Illini Letters to the Editor: Unofficial promoter is disrespecting Irish culture

Be sure to check back here for more information regarding Unofficial, including an interview with the Irish Illini and an Unofficial Resource guide.

Image courtesy Musebrarian (Creative Commons License).