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School of Kinesiology School of Kinesiology Michigan Publishing Copyright © 2015 by the Regents of the University of Michigan The University of Michigan: An Encyclopedic Survey was first published beginning in 1942. For its 2017 Bicentennial, the University undertook the most significant updating of the Encyclopedia since the original, focusing on academic units. Entries from all versions are compiled in the Bicentennial digital and print-on-demand edition. This book was produced using Pressbooks.com, and PDF rendering was done by PrinceXML. Contents 1. School of Kinesiology (2015) 1 [1] School of Kinesiology (2015) The discipline known as Kinesiology traces its roots at the University of Michigan to the late 19th century. It began as a Program, grew into a Department, became a stand-alone Division, and in 2008, earned designation as a School. Changing locations three times as it grew in scope and enrollment, Kinesiology has evolved from activity classes in a gymnasium, to required classes in sport skills and fitness, to a teaching degree in physical education, to the multifaceted scientific study of human movement, health and wellness, and sport management. 1870-1920 “There is no other spectacle of a want of symmetry in the development of a human being so glaring and so painful as that of a cultivated mind inhabiting a neglected, feeble and incompetent body…” noted the U-M Regents proceedings in 1870. The Regents recommended the establishment of a Department of Hygiene and Physical Culture and the appointment of a professor to run it, citing “the equal rights and equal needs of the body and mind, with reference to systematic training.” In 1891, Joshua Waterman offered $20,000 toward the construction of a gymnasium if an equal amount could be raised from other sources. Students met the challenge, and in 1894, Waterman Gymnasium was completed at a cost of $61,876.49. 2 School of Kinesiology At that time, the University enrolled about 2,000 men and 500 women. President James B. Angell, a strong advocate for co- education, extended Waterman privileges to women on certain mornings. But, the women campaigned vigorously for their own wing, and in 1895, Regents Levi Barbour and Charles Hebard donated $40,000. The women raised the rest through personal canvassing as well as a Leap Year Hop in 1896 that brought in $582, at one dollar per ticket. Barbour Gymnasium opened in 1900. Both an exercise facility and social gathering space, Barbour opened the full spectrum of university life to female students. George A. May joined the faculty in 1901, serving from 1910-42 as Director of Waterman Gym. “Doc” May emphasized calisthenics, marching exercises, basketball, and track to “counteract the strain placed on students by extensive study.” May practiced what he preached, the Ann Arbor News reported: “Indian club juggling, hours on the parallel bar and gymnasium horse, floor dips, topped off with a half-mile jog on the running track.” President Angell recruited U-M Medical School graduate Eliza M. Mosher to be Professor of Hygiene and the first Women’s Dean in the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts, 1896-1902. Mosher detested corsets and invented a women’s gymnasium suit featuring black knee-length bloomers to allow for more freedom of movement. She prescribed an individualized exercise program for each female student and promoted a four-year course in physiology and hygiene, incorporating psychology and public health. Men’s and Women’s Physical Education began as electives, but in 1898, the Regents made PE compulsory for all freshmen. By 1911, it was a four-year requirement. Their reasoning would echo for decades to come: “It has been found that often those who are most in need of physical education do not take it.” Required classes meant higher enrollments and an expanded curriculum. Waterman Gym was equipped for sports ranging from boxing and fencing to handball and shotput. In Barbour, the women practiced drills and marches, basketball, and calisthenics. A Women’s Athletic Association formed in 1905 to promote comprehensive athletic and recreational activities. School of Kinesiology (2015) 3 Swimming classes in the waist-deep “Barbour Bathtub” Swimming Tank had a long waiting list. In 1917, America’s entry into World War I raised national concern about physical fitness, when thousands of draftees were turned down for military service. States started to pass laws requiring physical education classes in the public schools, and to meet the need for teachers, the Regents established a Department of Physical Education in the newly established School of Education. 1920-1976 The 1920s’ post-war prosperity also saw an unprecedented growth in facilities, including Yost Field House, an Intramural Sports Building, the Women’s Athletic Building, and the nation’s largest football stadium, then seating 85,000. John M. Sundwall headed the new Department of Physical Education in 1921. Among those who shaped early physical education, the three most influential were Margaret Bell, Chair of Women’s Physical Education, 1923-57; Elmer Mitchell, Director of Intramural Sports, 1919-58, and Chair of the Department of Physical Education for Men, 1942-58 and the legendary Fielding H. Yost, head football coach, 1901-1923 and 1925-1926 and Director of Athletics 1921-1941. Teaching “The Theory and Practice of Athletic Coaching,” Yost launched a tradition. U-M coaches continued to teach physical education courses and hold faculty appointments over the next 60 years. Bell broadened the women’s required program to include dance, skating, golf, horseback riding, and a wide variety of other individual and team sports. Mitchell oversaw a huge growth of informal recreational activities and in 1919, became the first Director of Intramural Sports at a U.S. university. He established The Research Quarterly in 1930 and edited The Journal of Health and Physical Education, reporting on studies that often focused on history or philosophical issues. Mitchell helped create the Master’s Degree in 1931 and coursework leading to an Ed.D or Ph.D. in 1938. Undergraduate options included the Required Program of elective non-credit classes, and the four- year Professional Program, leading to teacher certification. By 4 School of Kinesiology 1939, 220 men and 165 women were U-M Physical Education graduates. In 1941, World War II again focused the country’s attention on physical fitness. The Regents adopted an emergency physical conditioning program, consisting of calisthenics, games, relays, obstacle racing and other mass combative exercises, during three 90-minute sessions per week, to gird students for the Armed Forces. After the war, marching and calisthenics gave way to some 20 activity choices ranging from trampoline, figure skating, and fencing, to fly fishing and golf. Women’s electives included horseback riding, archery, and dance. The trend was toward activities that could be carried on throughout the lifetime. With Fielding Yost’s retirement in 1941, the Department was reorganized and named Physical Education and Athletics. Herbert O. Crisler was appointed Director, and the staff members’ academic titles were changed from Professor, Associate and Assistant Professor, and Instructor, to the less prestigious titles of Director, Supervisor, Associate and Assistant Supervisor. In 1967, this action was reversed, and academic titles were restored. Throughout her tenure, Margaret Bell campaigned tirelessly for a women’s swimming pool to accommodate the growing need for recreation, competition, and instruction. In 1954, after decades of fundraising, the six-lane Margaret Bell Pool opened at the corner of Washtenaw and Geddes. Bell also formed a partnership with Interlochen National Music Camp, whereby Physical Education students served as counselors, earning credits and practical experience. Marie Hartwig headed the camp program from 1949-82 and published a Camp Counselor Training Handbook in 1960 that was among the first manuals of its kind. Esther French followed Bell as Women’s Chair, 1957-67, succeeded by Marie Hartwig as Acting Women’s Chair, 1968-70. Paul Hunsicker’s arrival in 1949 marked a turning point, ushering in an emphasis on science-based research that defines Kinesiology today. Succeeding Mitchell in 1958 as Chair of the Men’s Department, Hunsicker tested his male students for strength, depth perception, and reaction time. He started a Summer Youth Fitness program in 1959, offering activities and School of Kinesiology (2015) 5 sports skills to boys aged seven to fourteen and collecting data on their improvements, over the six week program. Summer Youth Fitness continued for three decades, evolving in 1989 to become KidSport. As Director of the much larger National Youth Fitness Project, Hunsicker conducted pioneering studies of youth fitness throughout the United States, published extensively, and spoke before worldwide audiences. His studies spawned the President’s Council on Youth Fitness (now the Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition) that would continue for five decades. During the mid to late 60s, demonstrations against U.S. involvement in Vietnam expanded to other targets. Students challenged many U-M rules and traditions, including the Physical Education requirement. The Regents abolished it in 1970, maintaining a non-credit elective program for students who wanted to learn a new sport or improve their skills. These classes would grow in scope and popularity over the years as the Adult Lifestyle Program, now called U-Move Fitness. In 1968, faculty additions were Merle Foss and Joyce Lindeman, who in addition to her teaching role, oversaw all of the staffing and scheduling of the Bell Pool. Stephen J. Galetti, MA ’56, returned to the department as Undergraduate Coordinator in 1970. Victor Katch came as an assistant professor in 1971 and in 1973, earned distinction as the first official U-M Women’s Basketball coach. He would have continued in that dual role had Paul Hunsicker not given him an ultimatum. Forced to choose between coaching and teaching, Katch chose academics.