No one saw it coming. It’s only a game after all, right? Lots of students, who were more interested in academics and had never bothered with attending the games, hardly noticed the decisive blow that officially ended Varsity football at the University of Detroit. But when it was officially ended on November 30, 1964, the serene setting of this peaceful campus exploded into screaming chaos resulting in two nights of student rioting that some will not soon forget....
The 1965 Tower Yearbook begins with an aerial view of the campus. Spending a few minutes on the two images offered here, allows visitors an amazing perspective on how much of the campus has changed over the past 50 years. It’s equally amazing, however, to notice in these images the things that haven’t seemed to change during this time....
So here it is summer. The winter term has just ended and the fall term seems far away. Even though the break between these terms is only a couple of months, it can feel like endless freedom to a lot of students. The choices seem endless regarding how to fill these potentially lazy days. For students, however, they seem to come down to only a few. They could be frivolous or practical. To so many students summer means being outside...
If you love history, or even if you just want to know more about the university, the University Histories collection in our digital archives offers a great resource. This archive leads visitors on a journey through time from the humble initial foundation work of dedicated men and women, to the distinguished center of education UDM is today....
Did you know that there are currently 112 digitized course catalogs (bulletins) (both undergraduate and graduate) from the University of Detroit, Mercy College, and the University of Detroit Mercy available in our digital archives? These range from 1928 through 2005, and represent offerings from every college, including the Law School and the Dental School. We even have the very first course catalog published for the 1889 to 1890 term. And this archive is growing! Each month, more catalogs are being published to offer visitors a wealth of history in digital format....
One of the most recent additions to our Digital Archives is in the Dichotomy collection. This archive provides access to the digitized issues of Dichotomy, a journal published by the School of Architecture students since 1978. In the archive’s introduction, Noah Resnick, Associate Professor of Architecture, tells visitors that Dichotomy, “… strives to be the critical link to the discourse on design, architecture, urbanism, and community development. Like the institution, Dichotomy focuses on social justice and critical thought concerning intellectual,...
So, even though educating the black population was not illegal in the northern states during this period, it wasn’t encouraged or supported. Many schools dedicated to educating black children folded under the pressures of lack of funding and lack of support from the white population. Education in this section of the population at one point became a communal endeavor: literate parents taught their children, friends taught friends, groups formed to help each other learn. In the South where educating slaves was not allowed, this type of communal education (mostly centering on learning to read the Bible) was unstoppable....
The very first Tamarack (volume 1, number 1) was published in April 1897. That spring must surely have begun in a similar fashion to the way it begins today: hopeful, bursting with flowers, sunshine, and the unspoken promise of a fresh start. The students who haunted the hallowed halls of Detroit College back then must have welcomed the end of winter with as much enthusiasm as today’s students. Spring meant a release from negotiating the icy streets, the snowy treks to campus, the unyielding freezing temperatures, and the general mess of winter. Back then without the advantages of current cold temperature attire, it must have taken a lot of determination just to get to class. And how wonderful it must have been to at last know the sun would grace those final days of classes before the end of the semester....
Here’s a thought puzzle: You are working on a research paper or book about the university in the 1940s and you need quick access to some basic statistical information. You might have questions about the G. I. Bill for returning veterans. Or maybe your question is about accreditation during this time; or the number of volumes the library had on January 1, 1949; or even the location on campus where the evening division office was located in the early 1940s. (And what the heck is “accreditation” all about anyway?)...
The first yearbook for the University of Detroit (called Red and White) was published in 1923, twelve years after Detroit College officially became a university. In its new status, the University of Detroit began with a focus on creating value. The founding Fathers knew the value that yearbooks offered and so they became an important part of shaping U of D’s history. The yearbooks produced during these early years represent not only the fun and friendship of the time spent at good old U of D, but they are also public records, documented history, and fine representatives of the school itself....
