10 -The Michigan aly - Friday, March 26, 1999 A CENTURY OF 'U '
Di etd a War, construction shape campus life
Notable events
of the 1900=30
University era:
1901: The Bachelor of Arts is created from several
smaller degrees. It omits the Greek and Latin
requirements - a triumph for modern literature
and language
1902: Michigan Law Journal monthly magazine
starts. It later becomes the Michigan Law Review,
a faculty and student edited publication.
1903: The Mosley Commission from Great Britain
comes to the University and declares it 'the oldest
and most famous of the state universities.'
University President James Angell announces that
the University has a studentfrom every state in
the Union and all territories except Alaska.
1903: The University is nearly finished with
the completion of the West Engineering Building.
The archway on the Diag is completed.
1903: The all-male honor society Michigamua
initiates action to construct a union for the
University's male students. The Barbour Gym, a
ladies parlor, is considered a social place for
women. In 1907, Michigamua purchases the house
of Thomas Cooley on State Street to be remodeled
for a clubhouse.
1904: Loan and scholarship fund starts. Twelve
hundred of the campus' 4,300 students pay all or
part of their expenses.
1907: Phi Beta Kappa establishes a chapter at the
University.
1910: University enrollment climbs to 5,339,
ranking above Harvard University.
1911: The University establishes the department
of fine art.
1912: University adapts the present grading
system of "A" to "E," ranging from three points for
an. "A" to -1 for an "E." To graduate, a student has
to complete 120 credit hours and 135 honor
points, which averages to be better than a "C"
average.
1916: The graduation requirement drops to 120
honor points.
191.0: Regent Arthur Hill dies, leaving $200,000 to
the University to build an auditorium.
1914: The University opens a contagious disease
hospital with $25,000 raised by the City of Ann
Arbor..
1915: On Christmas Eve, an Ann Arbor resident
named Richard Hall dies while serving in an
ambulance unit on the French frot. A $2,000
scholarship is set up in his name for students of
forestry or dentistry.
1917: Forty-three married instructors petition the
f regents for a raise in salary. Salaries for
instructors range from $1,000 to $1,400,
$1,600 to $1,800 for assistant professors, $2,000
to $2,200 for associate professors and $2,500 to
$4,000 for full professors. Deans earns at least
$5,000.
1917: Hill Auditorium is site of a farewell
reception for men drafted to serve in World War I.
1924: The 60th Greek chapter opens on campus.
Thirty-two percent of men and 22 percent of
women are active in the Greek System.
1927: Michigan Stadium opens for its first kickoff
for the last game of the football season.
1927: The University implements the concept of
first-year orientation.
1929: The University announces plans to build a
large women's dormitory after women protest their
living conditions.
-Information courtesy of Howard Peckham 's
"The Making of the University of Michigan 1817-
1992" and Jonathan Marwil's '-A History of Ann
Arbor."
'U' students
rally frwr
sports vi*ctones
By Jaimi, Winkler
Daily Staff' Reporter
The opening decades of the 20th Century were marked
by growth, a world war and periods of student activism.
The University - pushed in different directions by
events of national magnitude and its own visions- con-
tinued to shape campus life,
At the turn of the century, University President James
Angell lead a student body of 3,303. With such a small
group of students, many of them identified with their
classes.
In November 1900, two rival departments - literary
and law - played a traditionally game of football. The
morning after the junior "lits" beat the senior "laws.,"
the law building had been freshly painted red overnight.
In a written letter to the University Board of Regents.
the juniors denied all responsibility for the prank.
The paint soaked into the building's sandstone and
"could never be completely removed," according to
Howard Peckham's book titled "The History of the
University."
But during the following decades students moved
away from rowdiness and began to organize student life.
The growth of sororities and fraternities, honor soci-
eties, student publications, organized music and theater
events, as well as the movement to build a student
union, helped to entertain the expanding student body.
"There was hardly time for deviltry or lawlessness,"
Peckham wrote.
By 1903, the University could boast of having a stu-
dent from every state, and in 1911, it became the third-
largest university in the country with a student popula-
tion of 5,339.
This trend of rapid growth leveled out until World
War I - when the University suffered a~steep decline
in enrollment.
Preparing for the war transformed the campus, rally-
ing members of the community behind the nation's war
involvement.
"We believe that the part played by the colleges and
universities is of vital importance to the country in
preparing for war," wrote the regents in a proposal to
implement military training for students, which
appeared in The Michigan Daily on March 27, 1917.
A campuswide vote showed students supported the
regents' proposal.
"The vote clearly shows that the students are willing
to make a sacrifice and assume the responsibilities of
the hour," Literary Dean John Effinger told the Daily.
That night, 2,500 men marched on State Street singing
patriotic songs and carrying a banner that read
"Michigan for America."~
DANA LINNANE/OD
The University president's home is located on South University Street. Not until the early 20th Century did student enrollment~
begin to number into the thousands, allowing many students to form a personal relationship with the president.
The day before the Senate approved President
Woodrow Wilson's motion to go to war, University
junior Rowena Bastin gave a speech encouraging
women to "wipe out the war" by not joining the war
effort.
"it is the duty of women to remove the cause of suf-
fering, but not the suffering. Every time we roll a ban-
dage we prolong war, and war must stop," Bastin said.
Between the 1916 and 1917 academic years, enroll-
ment dropped from 7,5 17 to 6,057 - shortly before the
first draft of local men. When the Reserve Officers
Training Corps established a campus chapter the same
year, more than 1,800 students immediately enrolled,
making it the largest unit of any university.
Many students showed their pro-war spirit by buying
war bonds totaling more than $650,000. Angell's house
became a Red Cross Headquarters.
"In dormitories and fraternities, meatless, wheat-
less,and sweetless days are observed each week to con-
serve those foods," Peckham wrote in his book.
Just as the University had supported the nation's
entrance in to war, it elaborately celebrated, war's end.
On Nov. 11, 1918 - Armistice Day, the Daily printed
four special editions to mark the occasion.
Students and residents marched in parades and the
University canceled classes in celebration.
In the years immediately following World War I,
enrollment boomed. By 1922, more than 10,000 students
attended classes in Ann Arbor.
At this time, the University's administration also
changed. University President Marion Burton reconfig-
ured the hierarchy of the faculty and administration and
he emphasized a shift in teaching philosophy - from
teaching students what to think to teaching students how
to think.
During the early 1920s, Friday and Saturday nights in
Ann Arbor were alive with activity. Movie theaters such
as The Majestic, the Michigan Theater and The Arcade
were jammed.
But sometimes students crowded theaters for reasons
other than to seek entertainment.
Students celebrated the undefeated 1922 football sea-
son by rushing two theaters, causing damage to bot
places. Student leaders collected money to repair dam-
ages caused by the "rush."
But in May, another incident occurred while students
celebrated the end of the academic year with an annual
event called the Swing-out.
The following academic year, a disciplinary commit-
tee sent a message to students by expelling and sus-
pending some students. The academic year passed with-
out any rushes, and the almost-canceled Swing -out went
off without a hitch.
"Rushing" resurfaced when the basketball team won.
the conference title in March 1929. Students aga~t
rushed the Michigan Theater,
"Reviving the mob spirit which has reigned so often
after athletic victories by Michigan teams, approximate-
ly 5,000 people, most of them students," rushed the
Michigan Theater, the Daily reported on March 5, 1929.
Local police officers used tear gas on the students,
and the mob threw eggs and bricks. A group of students
rioted and protested the arrest of three students "until
President Clarence Cook Little arrived on the scene to
take the students to his home," the Daily reported.
Attempts to raise money for the damages, which we
successful in the past, petered out before much could be
raised.
This busy period in the University's history prefaced
even more changes to come.
Local entertainment venues
add to students' social lives
By Jenni Glenn
and Lindsey Alpert
Daily Arts Writers
The state of arts on campus prospered dur-
ing the opening decades of the 20th Century,
putting into form many of the cultural institu-
tions on and around campus that continue to
thrive today.
This weekend's MUSKET production
"Chess" is part of a long-standing tradition of
student performances. MUSKET's predeces-
sor, the Michigan Union Opera Company, per-
formed its first show, "Michigenda," Feb. 26,
1908 at the Whitney Theater, a Main Street
theater at the time. Student Roy Welch wrote
a satire about a magical kingdom without any
faculty members. The all-male opera compa-
ny toured the Midwest beginning in 1910.
said. "Instead of talking about 'Dawson's
Creek,' they would talk about whatever movie
was going on."
Sometimes young people became overly
enthusiastic about the movies, Collins said.
"Every so often, particularly during football
season, students would rush a theater," Collins
said. B~esides not paying, groups of students
frequently broke marquee bulbs.
As part of the local nightlife, students also
enjoyed fraternity parties. For transportation
to and from parties, couples could rent a
horse-drawn carriage for $1 .50 before mid-
night, and for $2 in the early morning hours.
Greek houses faced some of the same prob-
lems in the first decades of the 20th .Century
as they do today - issues such as those sur-
rounding alcohol and hazing.
In 1909, problems
0 movieswith hazing led to the
expulsion of two
more University sopho-
mores.
Spassionat#e For amusement,
humor publications
became popular with
RussColinsmany University stu-
- RussMchCollinsate dents.
~to, ichga Thatr The first issue of
the Gargoyle, a 32-
page book containing humorous sketches,
verses and cartoons, was published Feb. 9,
1909, under the leadership of editor Lee
White. On the first day of the school year,
1,000 copies of the Gargoyle were printed and
Courtesy of Michigan Athletic Department
Former Michigan football coach and Athletic Director Fielding Yost walks In front:
of the building that bears his name -- today known as Yost Ice Arena.
Yost grrounded M sprS:
UMS, then called
the Choral Union,
brought in performers
from around the world
and sponsored
Handel's "Messiah"
just as it does today.
The Choral Union and
Michigan Union
Opera Company's
performances took
"Going to th4
was a much
common andi
experience.
By Aran Gopal
Daily Sports Writer
In keeping with changes of the time,
the University underwent a dramatic
facelift. In particular, athletics at
Michigan changed drastically. Many
followers of Michigan athletics, in fact,
argue that the years 1900-30 constituted
the single greatest era of development in
the history of Michigan athletics.
The catalyst for the majority of
changes was Fielding Yost, who is
best remembered as the coach of the
Michigan football team from 190 1-26,
with a one-year hiatus in 1924. Yost
also served as athletic director from
1921-41. In this dual role, the pioneer-
ing Yost became one of the most influ-
their haste to depart for Chicago. Yos'
attempts to retrieve the jug were met tW
"If you want it, you'll have to come up
and win it," from Minnesota Athletic
Director L.J. Cooke. As a result, the
rival teams began to wage their now tra-
ditional battle for the Little Brown Jug
in 1909.
As athletic director, Yost presided
over a number of building projects
between 1921 and 1930, the most note-
worthy of which was the construction
Michigan Stadium. Built at a cost ofW
million, the "Big House" opened
October 22, 1927 with a capacity of
84,401, making it the largest college-
owned stadium in the nation, a title it
holds today.
Executive Dire(
{ce at area theaters
ke the Whitney, the Majestic and the
rplieum - the building where Gratzi on
ain Street is located today. These theaters
3sted both performance acts and silent
)vles.
sa'