Re: The late great 98, Sept., 2008): I saw Tom Harmon play his first Varsity game, a 14-0 victory over MSC in 1938. In 1938, I also saw Harmon beat Yale 15-13 (both sides wore blue jerseys); tie Northwestern 0-0 in one of the really great games I have ever seen (Northwestern wore white, the first time I ever saw a team wear white). In 1939, I saw Harmon lose to Minnesota, 20-7.
Harmon may have been the greatest player I ever saw, although by this time I have seen a lot of them.
You mention Harmon’s wedding with Elyse Knox in the Grace Chapel. In June 1944, I was a Michigan freshman and I stood outside St. Mary’s Student Chapel among an overflow crowd at the Harmon-Knox wedding, and I watched Harmon emerge with his bride (whose wedding gown was indeed made from his parachute). Directly behind them was Harmon’s great friend and blocking buddy, Forest Evashevski and, I assume, the maid of honor. Both Harmon and Evashevski were in military uniform, as were many others.
In considering Harmon’s football exploits, it must be remembered that, like all of his teammates, Harmon played both offense and defense. He was as good on defense as on offense. Two-platoon football did not come about until 1945, as a wartime measure. As you may know, the first full utilization of two-platoon football took place in Yankee Stadium when Fritz Crisler’s very young Michigan team lost to Army 28-7. Army obliterated everyone else on their schedule because of the maturity of their players, some of whom had played 5 or 6 years of college football. And, yes, I was fortunate enough to watch that game, too, as a young Army soldier.

My dad, Jesse K. Brumbaugh, LSA ’23 Law ’25, took me to my first college game in Columbus, Ohio, in November 1938. Harmon (The late great 98, Sept., 2008) and the Blue were victorious, 18-0.

The article regarding the changes in dining on the Hill (U-M opens new doors in campus living, Sept. 2008) reminded me of my four years living at Couzens Hall, from 1970 to 1974. What was new then was that my first year, 1970, was the first year Couzens was open to men, with it previously having been a nursing student dorm for women.

Before my Law School days I first attended a football game in the Big House as a Boy Scout usher. I saw Tom Harmon play (The late great 98, Sept. 2008) in 1940 but didn’t realize that I was seeing history.

When I attended the University of Michigan for a BS in Nursing, I was elated to finally have arrived there after planning to do so since I was a H.S. Freshman. Some relatives of mine had gone there and to Michigan State so I was quite entranced. When my father and I made our trek in the winter of 1959 to see both universities, the U of M certainly stood heads and shoulders above Michigan State. When we got to Ann Arbor we were met with ice and snow and had to trek up the hills to see the Medical Center. Luckily, we took a train because the weather was bad going back to New York.
I have fond memories of the Liberal Arts classes and teachers, especially my American history teacher who made history come alive for me the first time in my life. My History of Art Lecturer was interesting, though he rushed through all the slides we had to see, stuttered, and had no course books to study from. So when I had to prepare for the final, it was a total loss. But luckily I passed. Both of those courses led me to a love of history and art. My History of Theater and Arts also brought me life-enduring rewards. All were teachers bigger than life to me. My nursing school teachers were quite good but conservative by comparison.
I spent most of my study time at The Graduate Library after trying for 2 weeks to study at the undergrad library, which was a party house!!! So, I figured if I wanted to graduate this was not going to work out. I loved the Hatcher library reading room and stacks and its quiet elegance. What a treasure that building was and is today.
My fine education at the U of M certainly helped me achieve success in my life as a professional Registered Nurse in many areas, including administration. I was able to start right off the bat in a charge position. Working part-time as a student on the wards allowed me to acquire life-long skills and the ability to deal with almost anything thrown my way. You never knew what assignment you would have—often 18 patients!! So thanks to the University for all you have given to me in skills and memories!! Unforgettable and treasured times.

Ann Arbor in 1937: “Population 29,000. A friendly little city of opportunity,” so read the highway sign.

There were about 10,000 students altogether. Students were not allowed to have cars. Everyone was equal: we walked or rode bicycles.

I remember Tom Harmon (The late great 98, Sept. 2008) like it was yesterday. In 1937 the football team under Coach Kipke (known as “punt, pass and prayer Kipke”) was in the cellar. Game attendance might be as many as 10,000. We won at least one game that year against the University of Chicago, the doormat of the Big Ten. Chicago dropped football after that year.
I believe Coach Fritz Chrisler came in 1938. Harmon as a sophomore became eligible to play on the Varsity. He was truly electrifying and with him Michigan lived up to its song and became Champions of the West.

I lived in Mosher Jordan for two years during my freshmen/sophomore years (U-M opens new doors in campus living, Sept. 2008). My memories are all good. Living on the hill was extremely convenient to classes on the quad, the CCRB, and the bus to North Campus for my ARCH courses.

I had the “pleasure” of working in the Mo-Jo Dining Hall and even served as a Move-in Assistant (position title?) during my sophomore year. We had the opportunity to move in early and had the entire dorm to ourselves the week before classes began.

During move-in, I can still remember one student’s mother being surprised to learn that Mo-Jo was co-ed when she saw the boy names on the door of the room next to her daughter’s.

My favorite part of the day was checking for mail. Way before texting and emails, I actually wrote lots of letters my first year to ensure that I would receive mail from family and friends.

I had intended to join a fraternity my sophomore year but Mo-Jo became my fraternity. I still keep in touch with friends at I met at Mosher-Jordan.

I am very pleased to have had those two years in Mo-Jo.

I am the son of Joseph P. Stivelman, M.D. a 1930 graduate of the University of Michigan. I was born in 1930 and though I never attended U-M, I have always been an ardent fan. Tom Harmon was my childhood idol. In 1940 following his graduation and before Pearl Harbor, Tom Harmon did some of the color for the Ann Arbor radio station, and that year Michigan came to Baker Field in NY to play Columbia with their great quarterback, Paul Governale. At half time, my dad took me up to the press box, introduced us to Harmon and asked if he would autograph my program. He did so, shook my hand and he and my dad had a friendly brief conversation about Michigan. A year or two earlier I saw Tom Harmon play against Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. He was spectacular. Strange, but one of things I remember most about the Columbia game—other than Harmon having actually touched my hand—was a punter called Paul Kuzma, I believe. The few times Michigan needed to punt, Kuzma was able to put the ball in what then was called the coffin corner of the field, the two or three yard line.
I had boxes of memorabilia of Tom Harmon, including the Time and Life magazines, the autographed Columbus game program, and every news clipping of his time in Asia in the USAF. I named two dogs after Tom Harmon.
Thanks for letting me “air” these remarks. I am a retired surgeon, still engaged in watching Wolverine football, but sometimes challenged by my son who went to Wisconsin.

Re U-M opens new doors in campus living (Sept. 2008): I lived in Jordan Hall from Jan., 1950, to June, 1953. We had the original room furniture and floor coverings from when it was built in 1930, and I think the original mattresses on the beds also! There was one telephone in a booth on each corridor, and you were signaled by a little bell in the room if there was a call for you. The bell system was also used to tell you that someone (like a date, or a relative) was at the downstairs desk waiting for you. We had one television set for the entire dorm, in the downstairs living room. If you had any other appliance of your own, it was probably a radio, a record player, or a hair dryer. Your father or brother was allowed upstairs during moving in or moving out times, and everyone would call out loudly, “Man on the floor.” At all other times no men were allowed anywhere except in the common rooms on the main floor. And there the house mother patrolled to make sure you and your date had both feet on the floor!
The dorm food was awful! One of our major meal entrees was “egg cutlets,” which were chopped hard-boiled eggs in a thick white sauce, which were then deep-fried into cutlets. When we were fed beef stew, there were times when you got all stew and no beef! We all wanted to be in line with religious Jewish students when pork was served, so we could ask for their portion of it. The same with Catholic students on days of fast, when they could not have meat. There were no substitutions available—one merely filled up on potatoes, bread and vegetables (for which you could get seconds; we could not get seconds of the meat or fish dish). You were allowed a glass of milk at each meal; later we were allowed to have second glass at lunch. If you missed a meal time because of a class or a meeting, you simply went hungry.
We had closing hours—you had to be in by 10:30 on weeknights, midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, and 11 on Sundays. If you were late you went before a demerit board. One semester I had a chemistry lab until 10:30, so I had to get special permission from the Dean of Women’s office to get in by 11; I had to ring a bell to get in as the doors were locked. Still, we had good times living in Jordan, and I have fond memories of the friends I made and the adventures we had. But I am certainly glad for the upgrades that have been made for today’s students.