"The Leaders and the Rest: Boundaries and Belonging at the University of Michigan"
AmericaJR’s Jason Rzucidlo was LIVE at the University of Michigan for their Bicentennial celebration. In this gallery, look for photos of the new exhibit, “The Leaders and the Rest: Boundaries and Belonging at the University of Michigan.” It explores who belongs at the University of Michigan? Who gets to draw its boundaries? Michigan students have asked and answered these questions for nearly two hundred years. Against a backdrop of local, national, and global change, they have negotiated their place and redefined their responsibilities. At times, students have debated among each other, sparred with faculty and administrators, negotiated with community members, and contended with politicians.
Outside the Hatcher Graduate Library
“The Leaders and the Rest: Boundaries and Belonging at the University of Michigan”
Student revelry as parodied in the yearbook edited by the secret societies, 1875.
Secret Societies meeting sign
Today, U-M offers an annual memorial service and provides burials for those who elect to donate their bodies to the medical school.
Graph showing the rise of tuition at University of Michigan
$7.50 was the cost of tuition at U-M from 1843-44
During World War I, a mess hall was built net to the Union, fraternity houses were turned into barracks and the Museum of Art housed soldiers’ families.
The Union and Newberry women’s residence were converted into hospitals during the Influenza Pandemic of 1918.
“The Case of Michigan Thirteen”
After the signing of the Nazi-Soviet Pact in 1939, university officials forced activists to sign loyalty oaths or face dismissal.
The American Student Union organized a massive peace rally on the steps of Hill Auditorium before the expulsions.
Readmit vs. Dismiss
U-M President Alexander G. Ruthven said “American democracy would be the only acceptable form of governance on Michigan’s campus.”
In November 1940, a public rally with 500 students, faculty and city residents was assembled to hear the details of the case.
In 1940, African-American student Joseph Boyd was denied service at the Pretzel Bell. Later, lesbian and gay students also faced discrimination.
The original campus was surrounded by a wooden fence.
Students came together to form the Campus Broadcasting Network, WCBN-AM 650 in 1952.
Before WCBN, students interested in broadcasting were limited to minor roles at WUOM.
WCBN’s success stemmed from the passion of its all-volunteer staff.
WCBN disc jockey
Visit the new exhibit “The Leaders and the Rest: Boundaries and Belonging at the University of Michigan” inside Room 100 of the Hatcher Graduate Library at 913 S. University Avenue in Ann Arbor, MI.
