Jane Elliott
UNI 150: People you should know
An Iowa educator who challenged racism
The day after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, Jane Elliott stood in front of her students and decided to teach them a lesson they’d never forget — one that the whole nation would remember.
She became known for her “Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Experiment,” first conducted in that third-grade class on April 5, 1968. Dividing all of the students into groups based on eye color, each day Elliott assigned one group of students special privileges while the other group was signified as lower status. The reversal of roles allowed students to experience both sides of discrimination and privilege within a controlled environment.
The compositions the children wrote about their experience were printed in the Riceville Recorder and then picked up by the Associated Press, bringing lots of attention to Elliott and her teaching method.
On December 15, 1970, Elliott taught the exercise to adult educators at a White House Conference on Children and the Youth. The exercise was filmed the same year, becoming the documentary, “The Eye of the Storm,” featured on ABC. A PBS Series, “Frontline,” featured a reunion of the 1970 class in 1985. Elliott received the Hillman Prize for the documentary.
At the time, Elliott was invited to speak at 350 colleges and universities and appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” five times.
More recently, following the death of George Floyd, Elliott’s teachings were discovered by a new generation of Americans after being referenced by rappers T.I. and Killer Mike on late night television and social media.
Elliott is held in high regard at UNI, where she originally earned an emergency elementary teaching certificate at the Iowa State Teachers College. She later returned to get her degree, and in more recent years was awarded an honorary doctorate.
“I’m so grateful for UNI,” she said in a 2020 profile on Inside UNI. “I learned so much...I was one of the first ones that went out of town to do their student teaching. That was the best thing that could possibly have happened to me. It was absolutely wonderful.”
I'm so grateful for UNI. I learned so much...I was one of the first ones that went out of town to do their student teaching. That was the best thing that could possibly have happened to me. It was absolutely wonderful."
Celebrate 150 years of the University of Northern Iowa by nominating individuals who have made a significant impact on our campus, community and beyond.
