@Mizzou Asks You

Memories of the Quad

@Mizzou readers share their favorite memories of Francis Quadrangle …

Tap Day reigns as my favorite Quad memory. As a student, I never missed Tap Day although I was never “tapped” as a student. I attended because of the wonderful tradition, a beautiful spring day and to applaud sorority sisters and friends who were honored that special day. Tap Day became even more special for me in 2004 and 2001 when I personally experienced that special honor. Mortar Board asked me to join their prestigious group as an Honor Tap in 2001 and the experience was wonderful. However, April 2004 was the most special as I was tapped for QEBH and led through the excitement of the day (and evening before) by my good friend and past MUAA Executive Director, Todd Coleman. The pride one feels in being hooded and robed, walking along the quad with extraordinary students chosen for their commitment to MU and unselfishness in service to their alma mater, listening as names are called is really indescribable. Chill bumps? Yes, even in 80+ degree temperatures. Tears? Yes, just from the feelings for our flagship campus, the tradition and all that it means. And the best part…I've met, become friends with and stayed in touch with some incredible students, a few of whom are now “young alumni.”

— Melodie A. Powell, BA ’77, JD ‘81

Being inducted into QEBH in 1981. It was a beautiful day, and I had secretly invited my friends and family. It was a day I’ll never forget.

— Heather S. Heidelbaugh, BA ’81, JD ’84

“Tramp, tramp, tramp around the columns…,” brings back memories of the Friday afternoon ROTC parades. While probably hated by most of the cadets during the mandatory ROTC era, I thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle. I have relived memories of those parades often in my Air Force and government career when witnessing military parades by U.S. and foreign forces around the world. Even a U.S. Marine Corps parade held in my honor in Washington, D.C. brought back memories of the Friday marches around the Quadrangle.

— Michael I. Burch, BA ’63

It doesn't seem like 40 years since ROTC was mandatory for all male students for the first couple of years. Mizzou had all three branches — Army, Air Force and Navy. This added up to a couple of thousand, occasionally gung-ho but more often just tolerating, young men.

The highlight of the ROTC year was one or two combined Pass-in-Reviews, or PIRs, held on Francis Quadrangle with Marching Mizzou not marching, but furnishing martial tunes, and some luminary — usually the Missouri Adjutant General — receiving our salutes. The band didn't march because there wasn't enough room. A mental picture of the Quad illustrates the difficulty of marching two thousand people, in ranks of 16 abreast, between the buildings. Worse yet, the key to marching in formation is hearing every left heel hit the ground together — no chance on the Quad's lush turf. Somehow, we always got through it in spit-shined glory.

We Navy midshipmen were ready to defend the public with our World War I single-shot Springfield rifles whose muzzles probably would have burst, being deformed after decades of being dropped on pavement. Mizzou lifted the mandatory ROTC requirement, as best I recall, in 1965. The vast majority of us returned our ill-fitting apprentice officer uniforms — just in time for the Vietnam-era draft boards to get really interested in us.

— Jim Swinford, BJ ’68

ROTC dress parades in 1963 were very patriotic and interesting. I fell in love with my husband there. A man in a uniform!

— Jeanne Rogers

ROTC "Pershing Rifles" drills, 1933–1938.

— Leon McCorkle, BS ’38

My favorite memory of the Quad was in 1970 when Buzz Aldrin, the Apollo astronaut, came for Engineer’s Week. He climbed the stairs to a platform and kissed the Blarney Stone. What a great sport.

— Jerry Pfleeger, BS EE ’71

Every fall after the Tiger Walk for the freshmen, Marching Mizzou would play a concert on the Quad for students, faculty, staff and the community. It was a lot of fun!!

— Dawn Kampmann Kitley, BS HES ’02

I remember sitting on the Quad, figuring up my finals grades after my sophomore year, and realizing I had missed the cut-off for admission to the Business College by .02. A grade in a correspondence course put me over to gain admittance, and I graduated with a degree in public administration in December 1983. I have been a fireman in the 90th busiest station in the nation in midtown Kansas City for 13 of the last 16 years on the KCMO Fire Dept., and never once, NOT ONE TIME, have I been as scared as I was that day on the Quad!

— Roger W. Wendel BS PA ’83

Although I have a year and a half left, my favorite memory of the Quad so far occurred before Christmas break last year. Some friends had a “holiday sweater” party, and at some point late into the night we decided to go Christmas caroling. After singing loudly as we walked the streets of East campus and getting mixed reviews, we ended up on the Quad. The six or seven of us who had survived the cold each stood on top of our own column and yelled Christmas songs at Jesse Hall. If there was anybody inside, they didn't invite us in for hot chocolate or egg nog, and my voice the next day was raspy from all the yelling, but it was a fun night nonetheless.

— Katie Dennett, MU student

Many memories come to mind, and most include pick-up soccer games, sitting around the Columns and reading The Maneater, or waiting for ping pong balls to drop. I do recall one particular memory when my friend and I dared each other to sleep out on the Quad. It was the middle of January and very cold that night, probably single digits. We were aspiring mountain climbers and thought we could toughen up by taking only pads and sleeping bags to the Quad that night. I woke the following morning under an inch or two of snow, but I could not find my friend. I walked back to Loeb Group for breakfast and found him there with the other fellows. He offered a lame apology about being too cold. Though we drifted apart as we each entered adulthood, I still consider him a good friend. Other than that cold night on the Quad, he never left me hanging.

— Karl Laves, BA ’79, M Ed ’80, PhD ’95

During the winter break of ‘90-‘91 there was an enormous amount of snow on the ground in Columbia, and it was bitterly cold as well. The town was shut down for days. I happened to remain in Columbia for a large part of the break as did a couple of my friends. Eventually cabin fever got the best of us, so we decided to venture out one night at about 2:30 in my buddy's car to survey the full impact of the winter weather. We figured at this hour with no one around it would lessen our chances of hitting someone on the slick roads. We made our way down to campus and noticed that it was completely deserted. As we drove by the Quad we noticed that the snow was so high that you could not tell where the street ended and the Quad area began. Since the area was completely absent of life, and we were looking for a little adventure, we decided to drive around the Quad in the snow. I can remember the three of us laughing all the way around the Columns while we were each wondering what in the world would happen to us if suddenly Columbia Police happened to drive by the area. Fortunately for us, no one came by, and we made it safely home. The snow was so high and so frozen solid that the precious Quad grounds never knew what happened. Even though only the three of us knew what happened it will be a moment that I'm sure we'll all remember for the rest of our lives.

— Carl Bradshaw, BS Acc ’95

I’m a sophomore this year, so I am fortunate enough to have plenty of time to make some wonderful memories on the Quad. But I think my favorites so far have been the simplest ones. Like, the first snowfall of the year happened last year right when we all got back from Winter Break. We had been spread out across the country and had not seen each other for a month. Naturally this resulted in dragging the mattresses into one room and piling about 7 or 8 people in for a sleepover. Around midnight when we realized the snow was falling thick and fast, we bundled up into each others’ warmest clothes and headed straight for the Columns. What resulted was crazy fun, picture taking, and of course, rolling down the Columns in the snow. But I think the best part was how easily a little bit of snow and the “magic” of the Columns could bring together a group of people who had not seen one another in what we always saw as “forever.” However, we all know that Mizzou is timeless and makes one feel as though nothing ever has to change. Hopefully, when we are all in our forties with families and careers, we can come back to Mizzou, and be those same girls we were at 18.

— MU student

We parked on Conley, right across the street from Jesse Hall, and opted for what seemed the quintessential college experience: we would hang out on the Quad. So Dad and I walked past Jesse and onto the Quad, and found every building and the columns illuminated perfectly for a game of night frisbee, which several students were playing. Lots of others were walking around the Quad, and we thought it was interesting that the area was so abuzz with activity so “late” at night (once I became a student, “late” took on a whole new meaning).

Dad was unbelievably excited and probably very nostalgic about his own college days, so he decided we would call Mom to let her know that we made it in okay and tell her how cool the campus seemed to be. We stood right in front of the columns and called home, and even today I know I could go to the exact same spot we were that night because I remember it so vividly. If you stand looking at the Columns facing Jesse, the second one from the right is where we made that phone call, and ever since that night that became “my column,” where I often would sit and study or just people-watch during my four years at Mizzou.

This memory is so vivid that it even trumps the time that my now-husband proposed to me on the Quad during my senior year!

— Angela Hayes Vennemann, BJ ’04

I would have to say that my most fond memory of the Quad would be the day I was married to another Mizzou graduate. My wife and I were both attending Mizzou when we met and eventually during our senior year we were married at Peace Park by the cedar tree next to the creek. For our wedding pictures we moved up to the Columns and Jesse Hall. So for that day the Quad took a major role in the marriage of two Mizzou students/alumni.

— Scott Smith, BS ’02

My favorite memory is without a doubt the nervous conversation I had sitting on a Column in the Quad. I’ll never forget, it was the second Column from the right if you are looking toward J-School.

I was sitting on that column with a girl that I had grown to be close friends with over the last couple years. That day I confessed my feelings to the beautiful woman who is now my wife. She, of course, had been waiting for me to make my move for a month and had nearly given up! She laughs now because rather than ask her out, I asked if we could be considered “dating.” “How can we be dating if we have never been on a date?”

That was thirteen years ago, we have two children and have been on many dates!

— Norm McDonald, BJ ‘93

I have many memories of the Quad. However my most significant memories fall into two areas. During my childhood, my family made a number of visits to the Francis Quadrangle and my mother (Ida M. Rainwater Bulgin, BS rural public welfare ‘31) explained how my great-grandfather, George D. Foote, who was a contractor, built the original Academic Building in 1841. She explained that the Columns were hauled in wagons from the river boats at Rocheport to the current site where they now stand. There was also a tragedy during that year when Foote’s father-in-law, Stephen St. John, who was a brick mason who worked on the Academic Building, died as a result of injuries while trying to repair a hand dug well at their Columbia home at the site of the old Missouri Theater. He is buried in the Columbia Cemetery. There was an interesting article on that event in the Columbia Patriot newspaper in September of 1841.

My second significant memory is during the summer of 1961. Two other mechanical engineering students and I had a special project under Professor F.D. Harris where we built a ground effect machine (Air Car) and flew it on Francis Quadrangle. The security guard questioned our being on the grass where signs were posted and we pointed out that we were flying over the grass. He seemed to accept our excuse and we continued to fly. One of the other students involved in building and flying the Air Car was John Clark. Both he and I became military pilots and served in Vietnam. He was an Air Force Aviator and I was an Army Aviator. He was shot down and spent most of the Vietnam War as a POW in North Vietnam. I completed my military obligation and worked in engineering and management for the rest of my career. I am recently retired from the Amalgamated Sugar Company in Boise, Idaho, and living the good life in the mountains of Idaho.

— Ed Bulgin BS ME ’62

3 p.m.
Fridays
The Quad
Ultimate Frisbee
Tradition

Not much could get in the way of our weekly game with RUF (Reformed University Fellowship). One semester, I even opted not to take an interesting elective because it would have infringed on the game. It was like clockwork — from the beginning of the school year through about Thanksgiving, and then it would resume after spring break. Many memories of laughter, tough competition and building life-long friendships.

— Heather Werle, BJ ’01

— Vic Zuccarello, BHS ’85, and Melissa Zuccarello, BSN ’83

It was graduation day, 1954, and the first time it had been televised. KOMU-TV had been on the air a very short time. We were marching around the Quad, and the word went back through the line: “Watch the television wires. Don't trip on the cable.” Dutifully, I sent the word back. And I promptly tripped in front of the camera!

— Jane Guthman Kahn, BJ ’54

I remember Professor Jesse Wrench, beret and flowing cape aboard his bicycle, rolling into the Quad for one of his “We won’t get involved in World War II” meetings. This would have been in the spring of 1940. Things sure turned out otherwise, probably much to his frustration.

— Glenn Hensley, BJ ’41

When I was running for a Panhellenic position during college, I was waiting at my sorority house for an answer whether I was chosen or not. I didn’t receive a call, so I was in my room sulking, thinking that I did not get the position. All of a sudden, someone was at my door and blindfolded me. They took us on a ride through campus. I couldn’t tell where we were going as they made some extra turns to confuse us. They put us in a circle holding hands and removed our blindfolds. The first thing that I saw were the Columns and knew immediately where I was. You can’t believe the screams of excitement as they told us our new positions on the Panhellenic Council for the next year while standing in the Quad near the Columns. I was chosen as Vice President. We walked to the Heidelberg for dinner and celebrating.

— Tiffiny Trump-Humbert, BA ’93, BS BA ‘93

While I have many wonderful memories of the Quad from ceremonies to some moonlit nights, the most memorable one which was not a pleasant one for me, was the first week of orientation my freshman year. It was a Sunday evening, and the freshmen had gathered on the Quad to go to their various religious centers such as the Newman Center, Baptist Student Unions, etc. My group was near what was then the President’s home. While waiting underneath some trees, some bird dropped its excrement on top of my head. Fortunately, I was 6 feet 4 inches tall, so no one could tell except me. I was so mortified, but there was nothing I could do at the time. As soon as we got to our destination, I rushed to the bathroom to run water over the aggrieved spot. I have often thought about what the other students were thinking when I emerged with moist hair.

— Leon E. Boothe, BS Ed ’60, MA ’62

A Road trip memory submitted after the August issue of @Mizzou was already published …

During Spring Break of 1977, Bill, Ed, Janet and I drove home to New York from MU. We were graduate students at the time in the English Department. Because we wanted to get home fast — 1,200 miles away — we drove as much as we could. But when we reached Western Pennsylvania, we pulled off I-70 to find the first available motel. After maneuvering some rustic roads, we saw the place. Our first impulse was to stay away. First of all, there was a funeral hearse in the parking lot and on top of the motel loomed a flickering neon sign that read Nicholas. The place looked very creepy, but we were tired grad students and needed somewhere to crash. It was after midnight, so we parked the car in the desolate lot. As soon as we walked through the door, I got a bad premonition. This was a threshold we should not have entered. As the door closed behind us, it seemed to say, Abandon all hope all who enter here.

When we walked inside, a tall and ghostly clerk greeted us. If speech bubbles were possible on top of a person’s head, his would have read, we’ve been expecting you. He looked like an undertaker, and wore a dark rose on the lapel of his deep blue suit. He charged us a mere 20 bucks, 5 each. Then the clerk slowly came from behind his desk and commanded us to follow him. As we neared the lobby, he told us to wait there, while he saw to our room.

What happened in that lobby has stayed with me for the last 28 years and will do so the rest of my life. If I have an indelible scar, it occurred that night in that motel. There in the lobby were 13 people sitting in a semicircle on very Gothic-looking chairs. In the first seat was a young boy, and next to him sat a girl with bizarre eyes, and next to the girl was an older teenager, then a young man, a middle-aged woman, so on and so forth, until my eyes reached the end of the semicircle where the last two seats were occupied by an old woman and finally an extremely ancient gent. Every one of them was dressed in black. I rubbed my eyes to double-take this seating arrangement — the very young to the very old — and I was right. I saw Janet studying them too, her mouth slowly dropping, the same with Bill and Ed. Suddenly, at the same time, in grand unison, the people in the semicircle smiled at us, and they were all missing their two front teeth! I mean, you could understand young children missing their two front teeth, even old people, but all of the others were also missing theirs. What the heck was going on here? Where were the teeth? Who were these people??? We felt as though we were in the middle of the Eagles song “The Hotel California.” You can check out any time you want, but you can never leave. Well, we were sure going to try. It was time to get out of Dodge, and skedaddle we did! We didn’t even ask for the twenty bucks back, for we had somehow stumbled upon a Witches’ Coventry.

— Stephen Sangirardi, MA ‘77

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Last Update: November 15, 2007