Twenty alums from the class of 1975 returned to Eastern for their 50-year reunion on Friday at the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.  

Among them was J. Sain, a former theater student. 

Sain remembers spending most of his time at Eastern’s old fine arts center, the building that housed the music and theater programs for nearly 40 years before the present-day Doudna Fine Arts Center was opened in 2008.  

The old fine arts center, also called Doudna, was a brutalist, mid-century structure similar in architecture to the union building.  

The old fine arts center was advanced for its time when it opened in 1959, according to Sain. 

Most of Eastern’s buildings opened around the 50s and 60s, aside from Lumpkin Hall in 1990 and the present-day Doudna Fine Arts Center in 2008. 

All of Eastern’s current dorm halls, like Stevenson Hall and the South Quad dorms, were also operating before Sain’s time. These dorms sprung up in the mid-to-late 60s, according to a 1994 compilation of building and grounds data by Norma Winkleblack.  

Over time, Sain said that Charleston has become different, most notably because there are less businesses now.  

Outside of class, Sain would hang out at a bar called Sporty’s, which was near where Lefty’s Holler is today. He’d also go to Ike’s and Marty’s. 

“[The going out scene] was probably about the same as it is now — everybody drank,” said Sain through chuckles. “Of course, you’re talking about the 70s, so there were a lot of people partying with other things.” 

Sain said he would go out with people from the theater and music departments.  

“We’d have cast parties and spin a few records,” said Sain. 

Dann Gire was also at the reunion, despite being in the class of 1974. Gire worked at the Daily Herald in Arlington Heights for 42 years after his time at Eastern. 

During Gire’s time at Eastern, he was commonly found in one spot: The Daily Eastern News. 

“That’s where I lived. Everybody lived there,” Gire said. “All the hard-nosed, hard-bitten journalism kids, we unfortunately lived at the news office.” 

The old office was in the basement of Pemberton Hall where Gire said they had a staff of about 15 regulars. 

“It looked like it was a cave down below Pemberton Hall,” Gire said. 

He said the newspaper used to put out 24-page papers every weekday. As a result, the extensive work took up much of his free time, leading him to often eat in the newsroom. 

Gire said that he expects Charleston to continue changing. 

“Forty years, 50 years from now, you’re going to be me,” said Gire. “You’re going to say: ‘What the hell happened to my favorite pub? It’s gone!’”

Aidan Cusack can be reached at 581-2812 or at atcusack@eiu.edu.