Crisler Center

Michigan 
basketball 
sports 

its own dedicated and zealous 

student section — the Maize 

Rage. Though the Maize Rage 

also participates in various other 

sporting events, it’s primarily 

associated 
with 
Michigan 

basketball and is the only student 

section affiliated with the athletic 

department.

Zach 
Linfield, 
Kinesiology 

senior and designated Maize 

Rage “Superfan,” which is an 

official 
representative 
of 
the 

Maize Rage to U-M students, told 

The Daily his job is to coordinate 

with the seven-person executive 

board to help lead the student 

section during games. Linfield 

said he helps begin chants and 

encourages students to be as loud 

as possible. 

“Our job is to make (the 

Crisler Center) an intimidating 

environment for the opponents 

to play in and to rally behind our 

guys,” Linfield said.

Aside from the typical songs 

and chants that characterize a 

U-M sporting event, Linfield said 

he enjoys traditions that involve 

both the team and the student 

section.

Leaving 
campus 
soon 
as 
a 

graduating University of Michigan 

student or an Ann Arbor resident? Wait! 

Before you go, make sure to revisit these 

campus traditions by clicking on each 

location below. Read about topics such 

as the history of the Diag’s block ‘M’ 

to which places you should visit before 

Ann Arbor becomes a part of your past. 

The Michigan Daily’s Campus Life beat 

has found nine locations to visit around 

campus before you leave.

Farmers Market

Open all year long, community 

members flock to the Ann Arbor 

Farmers Market to buy local produce, 

baked goods, flowers, jams and 

other artisanal goods. Located in the 

Kerrytown neighborhood, the market 

is adjacent to Sweetwaters Coffee & 

Tea and Kerrytown Market & Shops, 

all you could need on a Saturday 

afternoon is right there. 

Gracias’ Greenhouse is a family-

centered business which sells flowers 

at the market every week. Gracias’ 

Greenhouse has been a vendor at the 

Market since the 1950s and also sells 

their florals at the Royal Oak Farmers 

Market, the Northville Farmers 

Market and the Eastern Market.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News

Ann Arbor hotspots and UMich traditions to check out before graduation

CAMPUS LIFE

The Daily’s Campus Life beat mapped out nine locations around the city to visit

Wednesday, April 12, 2023 — 3

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The Block M

There’s a place on campus that has 

seen the highs and lows of student life. 

Left untouched despite heavy traffic in 

the 10 minutes between classes, the block 

‘M’ on the Diag has remained virtually 

unchanged since its installation. A 

pillar of the campus community, its 

bronze cover, now turning green with 

age, has seen candlelit vigils, countless 

protests and the roars of students 

coming together for Diag snowball 

fights. Despite all of this, students still 

avoid directly stepping on the block 

‘M’, adhering to the superstition that 

stepping on it means failing your first 

blue book exam. The Michigan Daily set 

out to ask the following question: Is there 

truth to the legend?

The block ‘M’ has only adorned the 

Diag for 70 years. Installed on May 8, 

1953, to replace a previous brick design, 

the block ‘M’ was presented to former 

University President Harlan Hatcher on 

three days later as a gift to the University 

from the class of 1953. When presenting 

the block ‘M,’ John Flynn, chairman 

of the Senior Board, told The Daily 

freshmen were prohibited from stepping 

on it until they completed one full year 

of school. Just a few years later, 1958 

orientation leaders were warning new 

students against ever stepping on the 

block ‘M’ before an exam. 

The Rock

On the corner of Washtenaw 

Avenue and Hill Streets sits 

the Michigan Rock. Covered 

in years of various types of 

paints, “The Rock” is a remnant 

of one of Michigan’s glacial 

periods, having originally been 

deposited by glaciers on the 

Pontiac Trail.

The Rock was moved to 

Ann Arbor in 1932 to become 

a memorial honoring George 

Washington’s 200th birthday. 

Though 
it 
was 
originally 

painted gray, the Rock has since 

been continuously painted over 

by students and community 

members looking to make their 

(temporary) mark.

The tradition of painting 

the Rock began in 1953 when a 

resident of Ann Arbor graffitied 

a Michigan State University 

logo on the Rock right before the 

week of a rivalry football game. 

To show their solidarity with 

the University of Michigan, 

some U-M students decided to 

paint over the logo, leading to 

the tradition of covering the 

Rock with different paintings 

significant to the Ann Arbor 

community. 

Gallup Park

Just a 10-minute drive from Shinola 

is Gallup Park, one of Ann Arbor’s 

most popular recreational spots. The 

park, located along the Huron River 

and Geddes Pond, boasts breathtaking 

walkways that meander through small 

islands and connect via pedestrian 

bridges, forming a delightful loop for 

visitors to explore.At the boat rental 

office, visitors can find amenities 

like food and drinks, outdoor seating 

by the river, and complimentary 

wireless internet access. The park 

offers a range of recreational facilities, 

including playgrounds, rentals for 

water activities, picnic spots with grills 

throughout the area and over three 

miles of smooth trails that are well-

liked by cyclists, rollerbladers, walkers 

and runners.

Engineering 
sophomore 
Sandy 

Chang shared her kayaking experience 

last summer. She said she knew about 

the park from people’s kayaking posts 

on Instagram and decided to go with 

friends before the fall semester and she 

likes the environment of the park as it is. 

“I think the rates for kayaking were 

pretty reasonable,” Chang said. “The 

river was wide and well preserved. 

The water was pretty clean and there 

were a lot of ducks, butterflies, and 

all other sorts of natural creatures. I 

would definitely do it again during the 

summer or just visit in general for an 

afternoon stroll.”

