I recall trying to get into the School of Law in 1960, but I was told that women were not able to attend.
I went to the School of Social Work instead. My career has been focused on therapeutic mediation with high conflict divorced parents. Most of my referrals come from attorneys and family court judges, most of whom are female.
No regrets, however…my work has been wonderfully rewarding.
Can anyone tell me when the law school first accepted women?
The Law School admitted its first two women in the fall of 1870, the same time that 31 other women enrolled elsewhere in the university. Madelon Stockwell, a student of the classics, had enrolled in U-M earlier in 1870, the year that women first were allowed into the University. Before Stockwell, Alice Boise attended classes on the down-low, which you can read about in U-M Heritage. –Editor

Our Father and Grandfather were Michigan men. From childhood, my brother and I looked forward to the same wonderful experience. A junior at the time, I was there on the front steps of the Union that beautiful fall evening when Jack Kennedy visited (JFK at the Union Jan, 2008).
I first saw Jack Kennedy walking south from the direction of the Administration Building. He climbed the steps with a small entourage. His speech was much too brief. There was no doubt as to his intentions about a Peace Corps and the idea electrified the crowd, which I recall to be mostly undergraduates. It was just what we wanted to hear in those days.
But what I remember with greatest pleasure was his gallant equation of Harvard and Michigan. This too thrilled the crowd who already loved him though the experience lasted only a few minutes.

Kennedy’s charm that evening was irresistible. As was the case with Richard Cory, he glittered when he walked. I’ve never forgotten the moment.

And thank you for making it possible to watch the graduation of 2008!

I was a UM freshman in 1960 (JFK at the Union Nov, 2007), too young to vote (it was before the 18-year-old vote amendment) but very politically active. I spent most of my weekends canvassing for JFK in a precinct in Ypsilanti that U-M Young Dems had taken responsibility for.
Because of my activist role, I was one of the “Kennedy Girls” taken to Willow Run airport by bus to greet his plane when it landed that night after the debate with Nixon. As others have indicated, he arrived very late and we had no idea when we would get back to Ann Arbor. As a freshman I had 11 PM hours and thought I would have many “late minutes” to make up afterwards at the dorm, but I didn’t care; it was too exciting!

Our bus accompanied JFK back to Ann Arbor and we got “front row standing room” for his speech. Mine might have been one of the heads with the “Kennedy girl” hats shown in the picture published with James Tobin’s article. That piece was excellent, but Tobin did not realize that there was a reason the students were all “milling about” when JFK arrived about midnight. Paul Heil, the Young Dems president, had announced publicly that he would speak at the Union that night when he arrived. We were told that Kennedy was annoyed; he was exhausted and just wanted to get some sleep before his early morning (I seem to recall 7 AM) departure from the Ann Arbor train station on a planned whistle-stop tour of southern Michigan. Therefore, that he gave that inspirational speech was even more remarkable.
And in the end the university allowed all the “girls” to stay out that night to hear him without incurring “late minutes.”

When I started Graduate school in the fall of 1970, a life-long dream to attend the U-M came true. I grew up in Ann Arbor, and the block M is affixed to your forehead early. I already knew the traditions: the Pretzel Bell, Michigan Football games, Pep Rallies with the “Wizard of Words,” Wally Weber; and Bob Ufer’s patented radio play-by-play style. I bought a Wolverine tie at Van Boven’s to wear my first day of class.
But I discovered all that whoop-la is on another day, another time.

Sometime in 1961-1962, we (girls) were told that seniors no longer had to live in dorms for our senior year, ’62-’63. Four of us who had been friends for 3 or more years, some back to high school, decided to rent a two-bedroom apartment on Madison Ave. We were the first group of women to be allowed this “freedom” in U-M’s recent history, or perhaps ever. We loved it, no hours, no rules, and yet we did well.
Two went on after graduation to receive Ph.D.’s, one received two masters (she married a U-M grad who later received a PhD) and I moved to Los Angeles (no more formal degrees).
I am the only one who is member of Alumni Association, and had received a Regents-Alumni Scholarship which allowed me to attend U-M.
The four of us are currently in touch, with me the main contact person.
I always enjoyed going to football games, and have attended 3 U-M Rose Bowl games in Pasadena in past 40+ years.
We did go to P-Bell, and I remember the bookstores. I used a pen which had ink cartridges which could be refilled, and bought disposable needles at the drugstore (no drug problems). I was active in Hillel.
I do attend Alumni functions in LA, and will always remember that my dream of going to U-M came true through scholarship help.
To this day, the mention of U-M gets the utmost respect from others, both professionals of all stripes and types, as well as the average person.
I think the four of us wish that we had taken more advantage of other activities, but studying (or shall I say grades?) was very important to us.
I remember seeing Jonny Mathis live in concert, and recently found some lyrics from something called “hellzapoppin.”
No. Campus was just starting. Necking was done in the Arboretum. There was a cemetery near the women’s dorms; none were co-ed.
We had to dress for Sunday dinner. We rarely, if ever, wore slacks to class. I think NEVER.
In dorms we had hours, had to be in at 11pm, sign in if coming in late on weekends. Quite paternal for women (girls we were called); not for males.
In dorms seems we had meal tickets which were punched for meals. Bikes were great way to get around, very few were even allowed to have a car permit. The UGLI was good for studying, and sometimes picking up dates. Downstairs it had a place to get coffee from machines I think.
Outside one of the engineering(?)building were two lions that were said to roar if a virgin walked by. My younger brother roared when he visited.
If couples were having sex it was not talked about. Most of the women seemed to remain virgins, or left most of us with that opinion. That opinion has been discussed with other friends from U-M.
Speaking of sex, there was one older female doctor at the health clinic who asked every female if she was pregnant when she would see her. It was rude and unnecessary. If someone had a cold, she was asked that question.
Fortunately, I had other wonderful physicians who were caring and saw me through mono and hospitalization. At the time in the early ’60s, a small annual fee was paid to have health services available to students. In spite of complaints, I found the service great. There was also psychological counseling available that was helpful.
If I could repeat those years, with some of my current self-confidence, I’d do it in an Ann Arbor minute!!!

As we waited For JFK (JFK at the Union, January 2008) and a chill set in a group of Nixon supporter came toward the Union walking south in front of Angell Hall. This gaggle sported a makeshift sign that said, “you can’t lick our Dick.” There was a tussle, the sign disappeared and that was that. It was a spark that didn’t ignite although there were a few tense moments.

I was in the first Peace Corps group, Colombia 1. I had to dig up an application through Representative Theodore Reuss’s office and it looked like it was run-off from a copier from a church basement. I remember taking some battery of tests in the spring at downtown Detroit. Out of the blue, just after graduation in June, ’61, a telegram arrived at home in Detroit asking me to join and show up at Rutgers University ~ 6-21-61. My parents were flummoxed and negative, but I did it. It was a pivotal decision in many ways. Afterwards I got serious about school, ending up an Infectious Disease doc. I learned to distrust the media and government (ours and Colombia’s). I’m forever grateful for the cultural, language and real-world experience that forced me into adulthood. Life-long and -altering friendships have been a joy and a source of strength at various junctures.

Did I change Colombia? I think I did. Colombia sure changed me though. I came out of the Peace Corps in charge of my own life and didn’t allow myself to get sidetracked. That was a fairly universal benefit to our group. Being in the media spotlight was an added benefit of the first group. Like I say, we learned by personal experience that the media was interested in something only akin to the truth. While in Colombia we did things a 30- or 40-year-old person did in the States. Coming back was a tough adjustment and going back to school to gain skills and credentials was a necessary step to get beyond being a “do-gooder” to being an effective person.

I was moved by the history of the trees that cross the Diag. Many years ago when I was a student I loved to spend time under them on a blanket sometimes for study and other times to day dream about the future. I can’t imagine with it must be like to have the opportunity to do so now! Thank you for the time to remember about such a glorious time.

Neither of my parents was college educated, although my mother had attended what was called “Normal School” in New Brunswick, Canada and became a rural school teacher.

Following high school, their intention was for me to attend a four year college and because we lived in Detroit, The University of Michigan somehow became a given in their minds for me.

I was assigned to East Quad in 1958 for my freshman year. At that time, men and women resided in the same building, but in separate “houses.” The anticipation of such a coed living arrangement seemed almost too good to be true to this teen-age boy. And, as the saying goes, “if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.”

Not much had been done to the facilities to accommodate young women in EQ. Restroom urinals in their sections of the building became convenient repositories for pots of geraniums. Maybe not too much sunlight in this arrangement, but certainly easy watering!

I recall we shared the dining and laundry facilities, retrieved our mail in the same lobby, walked the same sidewalks together from EQ to the Diag and, occasionally socialized together. Whatever other fantasies I imagined might happen, remained pretty much just that.

Nevertheless, University of Michigan memories of the late 1950s and early 1960s remain positive for me and the education I received there set the stage for any future academic and professional successes I may have achieved.

Re: Professor White’s trees (April, 2008): One of my favorite childhood memories is attending the annual Lantern Night, usually during the week before commencement in June. The band played, the elms in the Diag were hung with Japanese lanterns and it was wonderful. If we stayed to the end, a few lanterns would catch fire and fall in a plume of fire and sparks. With Commencement scheduled for the Diag, wouldn’t it be neat to include a Lantern Night again!