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Unique Hangouts

@Mizzou readers share their favorite campus nooks and crannies…

There are a number of candidates for the best “nooks and crannies” on the Mizzou campus during the 1970s:

• Any solitary study desk buried in the stacks on the third floor of Ellis Library was a treasure — when you could find one.
  
  
• The sitting room in the north side of the Memorial Union was also a great study area. Quiet rules were the social norm, and you could sink deep into oversized leather furniture obviously built for giants.
  
  
• For real quietude and a moment to reflect on getting your life together, the door to A.P. Green Chapel in the South Union was always open, day or night. While haunting old “spots” during Homecoming 2002, I was deeply pleased to find that policy remains in place.
  
  
• During warm weather, any tree in Peace Park was an ideal place to settle with a good book.
  
  
• For entertainment, the basement of Gentry Hall, still a women's dorm when I started at MU, was converted for a time into a coffeehouse with a limited seating capacity. There were special nights when an “audience” of as few as 15 people might be treated to two hours of entertainment from groups no one had heard of yet — like the Ozark Mountain Daredevils.
  
  
• The best place to feel at home would have to be our garret-like offices for the Maneater, which were then on the top floor of Read Hall. Luckily, no one ever inspected the premises too carefully, which were sloppily wallpapered, via rubber cement, with copy paper, clippings and salacious posters. It looked something like the press room in the 1931 version of The Front Page.

— Dave Keckler, BJ ‘74

Hands down…my favorite on campus hangout had to be the Bengal Lair in the Student Union. What a great place to waste time and enjoy crummy french fries…uh…“freedom fries.” The décor was cheesy enough to complement the greasy burgers, but the company was beyond compare.

—Todd Beezley, BJ ‘72

The pond by the zoology building — my husband and I got engaged there!

— Heather Starek, BJ ‘97

The Theta radiator is located on the main floor of Jesse Hall and is the last radiator on your right as you enter from the Quadrangle. It is named after Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, whose members used it between classes to meet each other and their frat friends to pass a few minutes before the next class. No other sorority would dare approach within ten feet of the radiator...summer or winter. It “belonged” to the Thetas and their buddies. (“Let's have coffee tomorrow...meet you at the Theta radiator.”)

— Bud Schauerte, AB ‘51, BJ ‘52, MA ‘54

My friends and I were very fond of the east corner of the stacks on the third floor of Ellis. We'd pack up snacks and soda at Brady and then study for endless hours. This particular set of stacks was the best place to study because we could goof around and eat without disturbing anyone or getting caught. (The security guard was vigilant!) Plus, we weren’t distracted by seeing anyone we knew up there. I credit my good GPA to that little corner!

— Mary de Villiers, BJ ‘00

Very few students have ever seen the inside of the Memorial Union bell tower. While working there in the late 1970s, I was surprised to see student names and dates carved in the wooden doors . . .

And no, you will not find my name engraved there!

— Francis X. Steck, BS PA ‘77

I have wonderfully fond memories of Gwynn Lounge in Gwynn Hall. I graduated in 1996 from the College of Human Environmental Sciences with a degree in textile and apparel management. Gwynn Lounge was a living room away from home. I remember studying, taking naps between classes, having group meetings (Association of Textile and Apparel Management, Ambassadors, or Student Council) and many pizza parties. There were so many things about the College of HES that made my college experience so enjoyable and Gwynn Lounge was one of them. It was (and still is!) a comfortable and comforting room to study, rest, visit with classmates and professors, and make some dear, lifelong friends.

— Liz Townsend, BS HES ‘96

While it may not have been the safest place to hang out, the roof of Parker Hall was my favorite place to sit, look at the stars and purge stress. My freshman year at Mizzou, I lived in McDavid Hall and walked right by Parker Hall's fire escape on the north side of the building every day on my way to classes. This fire escape let you walk right up to the roof without having to step over any chains or passing any warning signs, so it seemed quasi-legal.

I, along with a few friends over the years, watched sunsets, protest rallies on the Quad, meteor showers, moonrises and even cracked a few books studying for exams. It was also a great place to take a date on a student's budget. The vistas from that roof were unparalleled, as was the solitude, a rare commodity while living in the dorms. I must have gone up there at least two or three times a month during my time in Columbia without once being stopped or questioned by the University Police. However, I never went up there after having had a drink, because alcohol and heights do not mix, at all. I wonder if you can still sneak up there....

— Thom Mitchell, BJ, BA ‘92

It has been many years since I was in the “stacks” at Ellis Library but I assume that the study areas still exist. I early on discovered that the place with the most solitude for study was deep in the “stacks” of the library. By the time I was in graduate school in the mid-1960s I had my own assigned desk and locker in the maze of “stacks.” Certainly not the place for much interchange with other students, it did provide one of the few quiet spots in a very busy library. It was a great place for a nap or concentrated study. My daughter, who is a freshman at Mizzou, says that Ellis Library is too hectic so she has chosen the Health Sciences Library for her favorite study location.

— Emory Jackson, BS Ed ‘63, BS BA ‘65

I was never big on studying in the library, preferring instead to find a spot on the third floor of the Missouri Bookstore, where I worked part time. But, when nothing but the library would do, I did have a favorite desk on the end of an aisle in bound periodicals, with a window overlooking Lowry Mall. Though the aisle held the bound copies of Playboy magazine, it was always an exceptionally quiet place to study because those bound back issues had no pictures. Guys just read the articles anyway, right?

— Tricia Polley, BJ ‘92

I graduated in 1985 with a degree in fish and wildlife. Back then, Stephens Hall was the headquarters for this program. There was a tiny little “library” in Stephens Hall, complete with ancient books and even older animal mounts, but boy did it have character. It's where all the “wildlifers” hung out (when we weren't at the Heidelberg quenching our thirst...). It was a great place. You could study, socialize, wait for a professor to show up – whatever – but you could always find support for what you needed from another wildlifer. I'll always have great memories from the Stephens Hall library.

— Glenda Abney, BS ‘85

My favorite spot is one that most students have never had the pleasure of entering. It is the dome on top of Jesse Hall. During spring 1997 the dome, which is usually locked down tight and inaccessible, was frequently left unlocked during the renovation/reconditioning of Jesse Hall. One afternoon, several of my fellow law students and I decided to chuck our books and, instead, sneak into the dome just to see what was there.

Well! We could hardly believe what we found when we reached the top of the dome. I can tell you that the content of the dome is truly the most impressive and awe-inspiring site on the entire campus. The top of the dome yields one of the most nostalgic displays of student creativity and tradition that was obviously started around the turn of the 20th century and continues today with every student who is lucky enough to make it into the top of the dome. The secret of what lies within that historic pinnacle is one that I will not and cannot share with others. You simply have to see it for yourself.

Perhaps more students will be lucky enough to see what I saw when I visited the top of the dome when Jesse Hall has its next scheduled renovation in 2040!!!

— Rob Stientjes, BA ‘95, JD ‘99

I remember the J-School pit well. The newswriting/editing classes used manual typewriters, yellow paper and carbon copies. It made for one noisy area. I took my comprehensive exam for my master’s degree in that room in 1976. I passed, but the smartest one there was the fellow that brought earplugs to the exam.

One favorite place of mine was the old gym (Rothwell?). I took a P.E. course in basic boxing there. Classes were in a small, second-floor, padded upstairs room accessed from an old spiral staircase off the main gym. During 1975/76 a marvelous man named Mickey O'Brien taught these basics of self-defense. He was a retired army colonel, a World War II veteran and well-respected by the students. I remember the first day in class he said, “I only teach gentlemen how to box, anyone else can leave.” He taught students a lot more than just boxing.

I was sorry to hear years ago that he had passed away from a heart attack. I'd be interested in learning more about him or hearing from people who knew him.

There were a lot of interesting nooks and crannies at Mizzou. While I'm sure the campus has changed a lot over the years, I like to think it will never lose its unique charm.

— Keith Schmidt

I have to admit that my favorite “out of the way” spot was the officers lounge at the Delta Upsilon house. Only the officers had a key, and I was dating the treasurer. It was a great place to “study” lots of subjects.

— Nancy Sigoloff Taback, BS RPA ‘72

During my time at Mizzou, I didn't ever have one solid place that I studied year after year, but my favorite spot to be in general was at Tiger basketball games — especially when I lived in Laws Hall when it was a coed dorm. So many of the ball players lived there and were friends of mine. Still desiring good grades, but not really wanting to miss the games, I generally took a book with me to study. I actually did get something accomplished, but by the end of the game, the book was on the floor. So, my favorite nook and cranny was the Hearnes Center.

— Sharon Angle, BS Ed ‘89

During my freshman year, I lived in Mark Twain, so I would pack my books and some food and cross Providence to the MKT trail. Just a few steps down the trail, a side path leads down to the stream, where a bunch of flat rocks beckon any nature lover. I read many of my history texts there, with the sound of the rushing stream and the chirps of birds as my only distraction.

My senior year, I lived in University Place Apartments, across the street from the zoology building. The corner of campus at College and University was a gently sloping hill of green grass next to a small fish pond with arranged rocks and trickles of falling water. It was the nearest splash of nature I could find, and I read lots of psychology and journalism texts there, stopping every now and then to enjoy the ripples of a rock I threw into the water.

— Alison Peacock, AB, BJ ‘93

The stacks in the Law Library (it was on the 3rd floor then) — versus the Student Union, J-School library, and especially, the first floor library — helped me make the Dean's honor roll. Law students are quiet and dedicated.

— Linda Hauser, APR, CFRE, BJ '71

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Last Update: July 2, 2009