LSA Through the Ages

COLLEGE CONNECTIONS ANNUAL REPORT 2015 LSA Through the Ages Indianapolis Cincinnati Where Have We Been? Cleveland (Cities in bold were visited in 2014–2015) Ann Arbor Columbus Detroit Madison Dayton Grand Rapids Toledo Des Moines Milwaukee Lansing Iowa City Saginaw Minneapolis Traverse City Toronto Philadelphia Seattle Pittsburgh Chicago Portland Stamford Providence Denver Boston Los Angeles New York City Palm Springs Teaneck Sacramento San Diego Washington, D.C. San Francisco Las Vegas Chattanooga Knoxville San Jose Asheville Raleigh Nashville Santa Barbara Albuquerque Santa Fe Phoenix Miami Tucson Austin Louisville Naples Dallas St. Louis Orlando Houston Baton Rouge Tampa San Antonio New Orleans West Palm Beach/ Boca Raton Read about our international visits in the College Connections 906Alumni Visits Parent41 Visits Total Program Visits Abroad section 5,178 2014–2015 2008–2015 HAVE YOU EVER wondered what it would be like to be LAST SUMMER, LSA WELCOMED A NEW DEAN, Andrew D. Martin, who brought with him big a student at Michigan in a ideas, enormous intellect, and a genuine sense of humor. Dean Martin’s background in mathematics different decade? Collecting and government from the College of William and Mary, and then as a political scientist and vice your memories through the dean in the School of Law at Washington University in St. Louis, prepared him well to lead the College Connections Program country’s preeminent public liberal arts college. As a new dean, he has looked to those who have has helped shed some light the most insight on the LSA experience to teach him the ins and outs of Michigan: our alumni. The on what it was like to be here College Connections Program has gathered feedback and stories from more than 5,000 individuals five, 10, or even 60 years ago. Step into the shoes of your of all graduate years and disciplines, representing more than 75 cities across the country — and fellow alumni and find out what even the world. Through one-on-one interviews, we have amassed a compelling and vibrant oral we have learned about the history that will help ensure the lasting excellence of the College. It is a pleasure to share what our LSA student experience program has uncovered over the last seven years with those who made these discoveries possible. through the ages. n 33% of graduates from the 1950s and earlier most remember the friendships they formed at Michigan, whether in the dorms, in class, or through Greek life. ANN ARBOR/DIAG ATMOSPHERE 12% SCHOOL SPIRIT/SPORTS 5% The Nifty Fifties FRIENDSHIPS/RELATIONSHIPS 33% Curfew. Single-sex dorms. “J-Hop” dances at the Union. 1:00 P.M. football CLASSROOM EXPERIENCE 21% games. The ’50s at Michigan were a time of tradition, prosperity, and classic STUDY ABROAD 0% fun. The end of World War II resulted in a surge in enrollment, and many HISTORIC MOMENTS 3% students attended U-M supported by the G.I. Bill. Campus as we know STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS 17% it today was just starting to take shape: South Quad was erected in 1951, “OFF-THE-RECORD” STORIES 9% and shortly thereafter Mason Hall and Haven Hall were completed in 1952. The Shapiro Undergraduate Library opened its doors a few years later in 1957 and truly earned the nickname “the UGLI.” Eight of my best friends from Michigan stayed in touch with a chain letter that went around the country — we were spread out across Washington, California, Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana. That letter went on for more than 50 years. We started numbering the letters, and the last one I wrote was No. 630.” — Lawrence Sweet (A.B. ’53), Birmingham, Michigan Allan Seager, renowned novelist and University of Michigan alumnus, taught creative writing at LSA throughout the ’50s. Popular Profs Dwight Dumond, (Ph.D. ’29), brought history to life in his vibrant and impassioned lectures on 20th century American history. n In the ’50s, 41% HUMANITIES the humanities At that time female undergraduates dominated were often pointed towards education campus, with 32% SOCIAL SCIENCES more than 40% of and nursing. There were very few female students majoring in disciplines students in the business or engineering like English and schools — and there were absolutely no history. 18% NATURAL SCIENCES women allowed in the marching band or — Jean Sweet (A.B. ’53), Birmingham, Michigan 9% OTHER cheerleading team!” Leading Industries n 1950s n The majority of 30% 1950s graduates 25% went into education (28%), medicine/ 20% health (20%), and 15% business (15%). As one might expect, 10% most of those going 5% into medicine were men, and those 0 going into education BUSINESS EDUCATION PUBLIC SERVICE were women. LAW MED/HEALTH 1953 1957 Crazy Jim’s Blimpy As a gift from the class Burger opens, quickly of 1953, the Block M becoming a hot spot on is installed in the center The campus. of the Diag. Today, legend has it that if you step on JUMP BACK Legacy IN TIME THROUGH 1956 the block M before you THESE CAMPUS take your first blue book SOUND BITES Women are permitted to FROM THE enter the Michigan Union exam, you will fail it! 1950s without an escort, even through the front doors! When you see this yellow box, click on it for more info. The Psychedelic Sixties The ’60s marked an age of tumultuous change — from the dominance of tradition to the power of counterculturalism. For decades, the notion of in loco parentis, or “in place of parents,” had defined the relationship between the University and its students. The University served not only to educate, but also to cultivate a student’s moral character, as would a parent. One lingering policy from the 1950s was the strict dormitory curfew — which only applied to women. The first crack in the curfew system occurred in the spring of 1963 when, after much lobbying, senior women were allowed to leave their dorm rooms past curfew. By 1968, dormitories were permitted to determine their own visitation hours. Leading Industries n 1950s n 1960s n Of the 600 alumni interviewed from 30% the ’60s, 17% went into the legal 25% profession, compared to 6% in the 1950s — a growth of 300%. This jump 20% is mostly attributed to men — only 15% 4% of women went into the legal track. The number of graduates 10% going into education — women in 5% particular — remained high. 0 BUSINESS EDUCATION PUBLIC SERVICE LAW MED/HEALTH The campus mood in the early ’60s was still very ‘collegiate’: Skirt lengths were at the knee, and skirts were required in the women’s dormitory dining halls. When I returned to Michigan in 1967 to do graduate work, it was to quite a different campus. Sit-ins and teach-ins and anti-war demonstrations were the order of the day. Long hair, mini-skirts, and the grunge look were the fashion. After a year, I collected my M.A. and left the campus to a younger crowd to sort out.” — Barbara Leitch LePoer (A.B. ’63), Washington, D.C. n While Greek life had a relatively large presence on campus 21% throughout the 1950s, the 37% HUMANITIES n The 1960s also dominance of organized saw the height student groups began to fade SOCIAL SCIENCES of students Top 12% 34% midway through the ’60s as Majors majoring in anti-establishment sentiment English — even sank in. Instead, many students 9% while the gap were involved, at least in some between social way, with various movements 8% 17% NATURAL SCIENCES science and occurring on campus. humanities 12% OTHER In fact, 17% of alumni who majors graduated in the 1960s diminished. report political and societal ANN ARBOR/DIAG ATMOSPHERE 13% events as their most vivid SCHOOL SPIRIT/SPORTS 14% memory from that time. FRIENDSHIPS/RELATIONSHIPS 19% n The most common vivid CLASSROOM EXPERIENCE 24% memories among alumni from STUDY ABROAD 1% the 1960s, however, relate to HISTORIC MOMENTS 17% academic experiences: learning from such renowned scholars STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS 8% as historian Sidney Fine (M.A. “OFF-THE-RECORD” STORIES 4% ’44, Ph.D ’48) and poet laureate Donald Hall. The 1960 1962 1965 1968 Legacy JFK stands on the steps of The award-winning Ann Students for a Democratic The first teach-in in The Cube, commissioned the Union and announces Arbor Street Art Fair is Society (SDS) hold their the nation is held on by the class of 1965 his plans to create the established. first convention. campus to protest the and designed by a U-M Peace Corps. Vietnam War. alumnus, is installed in Regents Plaza. n Graduates from the ’60s and ’70s report political and societal moments as their most vivid memory six times more often than graduates from other eras. The Far-Out Seventies n Moving into the mid-to-late ’70s, after the war in Building upon the student activism of the ’60s, Vietnam, student life began to take on a slightly different shape. Many alumni that we interviewed who graduated the early ’70s at Michigan were defined by rallies later in the decade referred to both on- and off-campus around environmental causes, protests for racial jobs as their chief extracurricular: Working in a lab, equality, and demonstrations against the war in library, or in local restaurants helped pay for school. Vietnam. A general fear of conscription pervaded ANN ARBOR/DIAG ATMOSPHERE 17% the minds of young men on campus, ultimately SCHOOL SPIRIT/SPORTS 13% coloring their educational experiences. FRIENDSHIPS/RELATIONSHIPS 22% CLASSROOM EXPERIENCE 22% STUDY ABROAD 1% HISTORIC MOMENTS 14% There were protests and people with missions. STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS 7% The fishbowl was always filled with tables of people “OFF-THE-RECORD” STORIES 4% passing out things.

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