Five years ago…
University President Lee Bollinger and Vice President for Student Affairs Maureen Hartford hosted the first-ever presidential fireside chat with Michigan Student Assembly representatives and randomly selected students. They discussed numerous issues, including North Campus development and the lawsuits regarding the University’s race-conscious admissions policies.
Ten years ago…
The University decided to maintain Fletcher Residence Hall’s status as a student residence hall. Originally, the University pondered the idea of giving the building to the athletic department, which wanted to develop it into a resource center for student athletes.
Feb. 18, 1958
The Residence Hall Board of Governors announced it would soon conduct a study of residence hall integration. The announcement resulted from students’ complaints that administrators intentionally segregated students of different races and ethnic backgrounds in residence halls.
Feb. 23, 1956
At a Student Government Council meeting, Panhellenic Council President Debbie Townsend asserted that no campus sororities maintained bias clauses in their bylaws regarding race or creed.
Feb. 19, 1965
After Gov. George Romney announced the state would not provide money for the University’s Flint campus until legislators designed a Flint expansion plan, President Harlan Hatcher declared the campus would still have a freshman class the next fall.
In response, Romney threatened to withhold more appropriations from the University if Hatcher defied his orders.
Feb. 16, 1968
The history department announced Prof. William Freehling would teach the first-ever black history class in September 1968, University officials said. The class would encompass black history in the United States from 1607 to the present. Previously, the department had also incorporated black history into other classes.
Feb. 19, 1972
The University Board of Regents rejected 7-1 a Senate Assembly proposal for new classified research restrictions, with Regent Gertrude Huebner (R-Bloomfield Hills) dissenting. Faculty desired new laws requiring the University not to engage in grants which restricted open publication of research one year after completion.
Feb. 20, 1976
The Graduate Employees Organization voted to join the Michigan Federation of Teachers/American Federation of Teachers.
GEO members said their new affiliation with MFT/AFT would enable them to gain expertise in collective bargaining and legal aid.
Feb. 16, 1984
At a U.S. foreign policy conference, six University professors criticized President Ronald Reagan’s aggressive rhetoric toward other countries. One professor described Reagan as speaking loudly while carrying a small stick.
Feb. 20, 1981
A bomb scare briefly interrupted a Board of Regents meeting. Also at the meeting, 100 students protested University investments in defense industries and cuts to the Department of Recreational Sports.
Feb. 20, 1949
Due to numerous student complaints regarding professors’ tough attendance policies, the University announced it would look into a new definite class attendance policy.
Feb. 20, 1936
Four University students riding a toboggan in the Arboretum crashed into a tree.
One woman fractured her skull, another woman lacerated her scalp and the other two students suffered no injuries.
Feb. 19, 1996
Five Michigan basketball players and one high school recruit – Robert Traylor, Maurice Taylor, Willie Mitchell, Louis Bullock, Ron Oliver and Mateen Cleaves – got into a car accident two days earlier driving back from a late-night party in Detroit. Only Traylor suffered serious injuries.
– Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter Jeremy Berkowitz.