- 1960 – Earl Finder is named Director.
- 1960 – $6.9 million addition construction begins.
- 1960 – Former Illinois President Willard dies in September.
- 1960 – Shortly before being elected president, Senator John F. Kennedy addressed 10,000 people on the Quad, becoming the first presidential candidate to do so at Illinois.
- 1963 – South expansion is completed, going from 137,000 square feet to 319,000 and the original terrace became the Courtyard.
- 1964 – The Book Center opens in the Pine and President’s Lounges, selling a selection of general books.
- 1965 – A Free Speech area at the southeast corner of the Illini Union opened
- 1966 – The Illini Union now offers a cafeteria, art gallery, 90 guest rooms, a billiard room and bowling lanes, ticket office, lounges and meeting/multipurpose rooms.
- 1968 – After tensions reach a high between IUB and IUSA, The Morrison-Romain Plan is put into effect: IUB and Director have equal responsibility for building policy, while the IUSA is split off from IUB and remains in charge of programming, losing control of their budget.
- 1968 – On April 3rd, 400 students took part in National Day of Resistance rally at the Illini Union.
- 1968 – Project 500 started on campus in an effort to boost African-American enrollment. On Sept. 9-10, some 252 students were arrested after staging a sit-in at the Illini Union to protest the inadequacies of Project 500.
- 1969 – Moratorium against the Vietnam War attracted thousands. On October 5th, 9,000 people marched from the Illini Union to West Side Park.
The south addition construction
A model of the Illini Union after the south end addition