In a light spring drizzle on May 23, 1952, Regent Roscoe O. Bonisteel turned over a spadeful of good farm topsoil just north of the Huron River. Shutters clicked and dignitaries applauded. Construction of the University of Michigan’s most significant expansion since its founding had begun.
campus history
This is a story about the University of Michigan before it really began, and about a road it did not take. Was the road not taken better or worse? It depends on the eye of the traveler. But the moment of choice had a definitive impact on how the University would look, at first and ever after.
campus history
The Michigan Union was founded in 1903 as a club for all University of Michigan students, faculty, and alumni — all, that is, except women.
women at Michigan
The carillon bells in Burton Memorial Tower on U-M’s campus are played or their original keyboard thanks to an unlikely savior: a U-M Egyptologist.
campus history
Learn the how and why of the iconic boulder’s journey to its spot on one of Ann Arbor’s main roads — and the surprising possible origin of the painting tradition.
campus history
Over the past 50 years, U-M’s Spectrum Center has helped LGBTQ+ students to come out, accept themselves, and flourish. Delve into this Center's history of inclusion and community here.
LGBTQ+ History
Born in 1878, Santiago Artiaga (class of 1904) had come to Michigan among a cadre of students called the Pensionados. Despite losing most of his material belongings – including his treasured Michigan Union pin – during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, Artiaga's time at Michigan stayed with him throughout his life of service to the Philippines.
Michigan Union
