Everything about The University Of Michigan totally explained
The
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (
U of M,
U-M,
UM or simply
Michigan) is a
coeducational
public research university in the state of
Michigan. The university was founded in 1817 in
Detroit, about 20 years before the territory of Michigan officially became a state, and moved to
Ann Arbor in 1837. Today, it's the state's oldest university and the flagship campus; there are two satellite campuses — the
University of Michigan-Flint and the
University of Michigan-Dearborn.
The university is internationally renowned for its academics. In its last published survey in 1995, the
National Research Council ranked UM third in the United States in a study that aggregated evaluations of 41 graduate disciplines and is considered as one of the original eight
Public Ivys. The university also has one of the largest research expenditures of any American university and one of the largest number of living alumni, at 420,000. UM owns one of the most well-regarded academic medical centers in the United States, the
University of Michigan Health System. The university is also recognized for its history of
student activism and its athletic teams, notably in
football,
men's basketball, and
ice hockey.
Despite being a public institution, the University of Michigan is known for its high student fees; in 2007, tuition for out-of-state students was the most expensive in the country. The university has also been at the center of a national controversy involving the use of
affirmative action in admissions. Though the university successfully affirmed before the
U.S. Supreme Court that consideration of
race as a factor in admissions to universities was
constitutional for the holistic Law School admissions process in 2003, the Supreme Court also expressed an opinion on the degree to which race could be used by striking down the policy for undergraduate admissions in a separate court case. The former policy automatically awarded 20 points to underrepresented minority applicants in its points-based system. Michigan voters responded by
approving restrictions on affirmative action in public universities and governmental hiring in November 2006, forcing the university to cease using race and gender as criteria for admissions.
History
The University of Michigan, was established in Detroit in 1817 as the Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania, by the governor and judges of
Michigan Territory. Ann Arbor had set aside 40 acres (16 ha) that it hoped would become the site for a new state capitol, but it offered this land to the university when
Lansing was chosen as the state capital. The university moved to Ann Arbor in 1837. The original 40 acres became part of the current Central Campus. The first classes in Ann Arbor were held in 1841, with six freshmen and a sophomore, taught by two professors. Eleven students graduated in the first commencement in 1845. By 1866, enrollment increased to 1,205 students, many of whom were
Civil War veterans. Women were first admitted in 1870, making UM the first major university to do so (and the third college overall, after
Oberlin College in 1833 and
Lawrence University in 1847). James B. Angell, who served as the university's president from 1871 to 1909, aggressively expanded UM's curriculum to include professional studies in
dentistry,
architecture,
engineering,
government, and
medicine. UM also became the first American university to use the
seminar method of study.
From 1900 to 1920 many new facilities were constructed on campus, including facilities for the dental and pharmacy programs, a chemistry building, a building for the natural sciences,
Hill Auditorium, large hospital and library complexes, and two residence halls. The university fortified its reputation for research in 1920 by reorganizing the
College of Engineering and forming an advisory committee of 100 industrialists to guide academic research initiatives. UM's reputation as an elite national university also began to grow at this time. The university became a favorite alternative choice for Jewish students from New York in the 1920s and 1930s when the
Ivy League schools were applying a quota to the number of Jews to be admitted. As a result, UM gained the nickname "Harvard of the West," which became commonly parodied in reverse after
John F. Kennedy referred to himself as "a graduate of the Michigan of the East, Harvard University" in his speech proposing the formation of the
Peace Corps.
During
World War II, UM's research grew to include
U.S. Navy projects such as
proximity fuzes,
PT boats, and
radar jamming. By 1950, enrollment had reached 21,000, of whom 7,700 were veterans supported by the
G.I. Bill. As the
Cold War and the
Space Race took hold, UM became a major recipient of government grants for strategic research and helped to develop peacetime uses for
nuclear energy. At present, much of that work, as well as research into alternative energy sources, is pursued via the Memorial Phoenix Project.
On
October 14,
1960,
Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy proposed the concept of what became the
Peace Corps on the steps of Michigan Union.
Lyndon B. Johnson's speech outlining his
Great Society program also occurred at UM. In response to a series of
sit-ins in 1966 by
Voice–the campus political party of Students for a Democratic Society–UM's administration banned sit-ins. This stimulated 1,500 students to conduct a further one-hour sit-in in the LSA Building, which then housed administrative offices. Former UM student and noted architect
Alden B. Dow designed the current Fleming Administration Building, which was completed in 1968. The building's plans were drawn in the early 1960s, before student activism prompted a concern for safety. Nevertheless, the Fleming Building's narrow windows, all located above the first floor, and fortress-like exterior led to a campus rumor that it was designed to be riot-proof. Dow denied those rumors, claiming the small windows were designed to be energy efficient.
During the 1970s, severe budget constraints challenged the university's physical development; however, the 1980s saw a surge in funds devoted to research in the social and physical sciences. Meanwhile, the university's involvement in the anti-missile
Strategic Defense Initiative and investments in
South Africa caused controversy on campus. During the 1980s and 1990s, the university devoted substantial resources to renovating its massive hospital complex and improving the academic facilities on the North Campus. The university also emphasized the development of computer and information technology throughout the campus.
In the early 2000s, UM also faced declining state funding due to state budget shortfalls. At the same time, the university attempted to maintain its high academic standing while keeping
tuition costs affordable. There were also disputes between UM's administration and labor unions, notably with the Lecturers' Employees Organization (LEO) and the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), the union representing graduate student employees. These conflicts led to a series of one-day walkouts by the unions and their supporters.
In 2003, two lawsuits involving UM's
affirmative action admissions policy reached the
U.S. Supreme Court (
Grutter v. Bollinger and
Gratz v. Bollinger). President
George W. Bush took the unusual step of publicly opposing the policy before the court issued a ruling. The court found that race may be considered as a factor in university admissions in all public universities and private universities that accept federal funding. However, a point system was ruled as being unconstitutional. In the first case, the court upheld the
Law School admissions policy, while in the second it ruled against the university's undergraduate admissions policy. The debate still continues, however, because in November 2006 Michigan voters passed
proposal 2, banning most affirmative action in university admissions. Under that law race, gender, and national origin can no longer be considered in admissions. The guide acknowledged colleges and universities across the United States for making strides toward the advancement and integration of LGBT individuals via a wide variety of student support groups, resources, events, policies, and other efforts to create for them an overall exceptional educational climate.
Academic profile
The university has 26,083
undergraduate and 14,959
graduate students in 600 academic programs, and each year about 5,400 new students are enrolled. Students come from all 50
U.S. states and more than 100 countries. 98% of the university's incoming class of 2006 earned a high school GPA of 3.0 and higher, while the middle 50% of the incoming class earned a high school GPA of 3.60 to 3.90. The middle 50% of applicants reported an
SAT score of about 1920–2180 and an
ACT score of 27–31, with
AP credit granted to over 3000 freshmen students. About 22% of newly-enrolled undergraduates and 25% of all undergraduates are members of ethnic
minority groups. Most graduate students are enrolled in the
Rackham Graduate School, the
College of Engineering, the
Law School, the
Ross School of Business, and the
Medical School. The Medical School is partnered with the
University of Michigan Health System, which comprises the University's three hospitals, dozens of outpatient clinics, and many centers for medical care, research, and education. Other academic units include the
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy,
Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and the Schools of
Dentistry,
Education,
Information,
Music, Theatre & Dance,
Natural Resources and Environment,
Public Health, and
Social Work, of which Social Work has been ranked first by the
U.S. News and World Report every year since 1994.
There are over 6,200 faculty members, 73 of whom are members of the
National Academy, and 451 of whom hold an endowed chair in their discipline. The university routinely has led in the number of
Fulbright Scholars in the late 1990s and 2000s, and has also matriculated 25
Rhodes Scholars.
In one recent rankings summary, more than 70% of UM's 200 major programs, departments, and schools were ranked in the top 10 in the nation. The 2008
U.S. News and World Report ranks UM 25th among all American universities and 3rd among
public universities. In its 2007 annual college rankings,
The Washington Monthly ranks UM sixth nationally with criteria based on research, community service, and social mobility.
Newsweek International rates UM 11th globally based on "openness and diversity" as well as "distinction in research". Similarly, the 2007 edition of the
Fiske Rankings rates UM with "5 Stars"—reserved for only those universities of the highest academic quality. Furthermore, UM's academic reputation has led to its inclusion on Richard Moll's list of
Public Ivies.
A concern about academics at UM is the high level of educational expenses for a public institution, especially for out-of-state undergraduate students, who pay between
US $31,301 and $36,352 annually for tuition alone. In 2005, out-of-state tuition at UM was the most expensive in the United States for a public college or university. Conversely, in-state undergraduate students paid between US $10,447 and $14,442 annually. Notwithstanding the quoted tuition levels, the university is attempting to increase financial aid availability to students. To that end, the university has built, as part of its larger university campaign, a greater than $1.4 billion endowment in order to support aid to students.
Research and endowment
The university is one of the founding members (1900) of the
Association of American Universities, the nation's most significant consortium of research universities.
The university manages one of the largest annual collegiate research budgets of any university in the United States, totaling about US $775 million per annum from 2004 to 2005, and US $797 million in 2006, and $823 million as of year end 2007. The Medical School spent the most at over US $333 million, while the
College of Engineering was second at more than $131 million. the virtual memory model, and computer
databases. The university is also a major contributor to the medical field with the
EKG,
gastroscope, the announcement of
Jonas Salk's polio vaccine, and the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation system or
ECMO. The university's 13,000 acre (53 km²)
biological station in the
Northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan is one of only 47
Biosphere Reserves in the United States.
UM is home to the
National Election Studies and the
University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index. Political scientists and policy analysts use UM's
Correlates of War project as a gauge of nations' relative
global power and a barometer for the outbreak of war. The university is also home to major research centers in
optics, reconfigurable manufacturing systems,
wireless integrated microsystems, and social sciences. The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute is located at the university, and support was recently given to the
life sciences with the establishment of the Life Sciences Institute and the construction of associated facilities. Undergraduate students are able to participate in various research projects through the
Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) as well as the UROP/Creative-Programs.
UM's
financial endowment (the "University Endowment Fund") was valued at $5.65 billion in NACUBO's 2006 ranking. The endowment is primarily used according to the donors' wishes, which include the support of teaching and research. In mid-2000, UM embarked on a massive fund-raising campaign called "The Michigan Difference," which aimed to raise $2.5 billion, with $800 million dollars designated for the permanent endowment. Slated to run through December 2008, the university announced that the campaign had reached its target 19 months early in May 2007.
Libraries and museums
The
UM library system comprises 19 individual libraries with 24 separate collections—roughly 8.27 million volumes, growing at the rate of 177,000 volumes a year. In the most recent academic year for which such figures are released (2005), the
Association of Research Libraries (ARL) — using a variety of metrics — ranked UM's library system as one of the top academic library systems in the U.S.
UM was the original home of the
JSTOR database, which contains about 750,000 digitized pages from the entire pre-1990 backfile of ten journals of
history and
economics. The University recently initiated a book digitization program in collaboration with
Google. As of
August 31,
2006, UM has rolled out the first phase of the Google archive retrieval.
Two prominent libraries, the
Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library and the Shapiro Undergraduate Library (also called the UGLi, which is officially an acronym but was used by students as a reference to the building's uninspired appearance prior to its recent renovation), are on Central Campus and are connected by a
skywalk. The Duderstadt Center on North Campus houses books on
art,
architecture, and
engineering. The Duderstadt Center also contains multiple
computer labs,
video editing studios, and a
3D virtual reality room. North Campus is also home to the
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and the
Bentley Historical Library.
The University of Michigan is home to a number of museums, whose focuses include
archeology,
anthropology,
paleontology,
zoology,
dentistry, and art. The natural history public collections are housed at the University of Michigan Exhibit Museum of Natural History, which displays items from the collections of the paleontology, zoology, and anthropology museums. The Exhibit Museum also holds the largest display of dinosaur specimens in Michigan, as well as specimens of the
state fossil, the
mastodon (the only such display in the world containing adult male and female specimens: the Buesching and Owosso mastodons). Another major university museum is the University of Michigan Museum of Art, with a permanent collection of European, American, Middle Eastern, Asian, and African items, and temporary exhibits on a wide variety of subjects.
Campus
The Ann Arbor campus is divided into four main areas: the North, Central, Medical, and South Campuses. The physical infrastructure includes more than 500 major buildings, with a combined area of more than 29 million square feet (664 acres or 2.69 km²). The campus also consists of leased space in buildings scattered throughout the city, many occupied by organizations affiliated with the University of Michigan Health System. An East Medical Campus has recently been developed on Plymouth Road, with several university-owned buildings for outpatient care, diagnostics, and outpatient surgery.
In addition to the UM Golf Course on South Campus, the university operates a second golf course called "Radrick Farms Golf Course" on Geddes Road. The golf course is only open to faculty, staff, and alumni. Another off-campus facility is the Inglis House, which the university has owned since the 1950s. The Inglis House is a 10,000 square foot (930 m²) mansion used to hold various social events, including meetings of the board of regents, and to host visiting dignitaries. The university also operates a large office building called Wolverine Tower in southern Ann Arbor near Briarwood Mall. Another major facility is the
Matthaei Botanical Gardens, which is located on the eastern outskirts of Ann Arbor.
All four campus areas are connected by
bus services, the majority of which connect the North and Central Campuses. There is a shuttle service connecting the University Hospital, which lies between North and Central Campuses, with other medical facilities throughout northeastern Ann Arbor. The Central and South Campus areas are contiguous, while the North Campus area is separated from them, primarily by the
Huron River.
Central Campus
Central Campus was the original location of UM when it moved to Ann Arbor in 1837. It originally had a school and dormitory building (where Mason Hall now stands) and several houses for professors on land bounded by North University Avenue, South University Avenue, East University Avenue, and State Street. Because Ann Arbor and Central Campus developed simultaneously, there's no distinct boundary between the city and university, and some areas contain a mixture of private and university buildings. Central Campus is the location of the
College of Literature, Science and the Arts, and is immediately adjacent to the medical campus. Most of the graduate and professional schools, including the
Ross School of Business and the
Law School, are on Central Campus. Ten of the buildings on Central Campus were designed by Detroit-based architect
Albert Kahn between 1904 and 1936. The most notable of the Kahn-designed buildings are the
Burton Memorial Tower and nearby
Hill Auditorium.
North Campus
North Campus is the most contiguous campus, built independently from the city on a large plot of farm land — approximately 800 acres (3.25 km²) — that the university bought in 1952. It is newer than Central Campus, and thus has more
modern architecture, whereas most Central Campus buildings are classical or gothic in style. The architect
Eero Saarinen, based in
Birmingham, Michigan, created one of the early master plans for North Campus and designed several of its buildings in the 1950s, including the Earl V. Moore School of Music Building. North and Central Campuses each have unique bell towers that reflect the predominant architectural styles of their surroundings. Each of the bell towers houses a grand
carillon.
North Campus houses the
College of Engineering, the Schools of
Music, Theater & Dance, and Art and Design, the
Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, and an annex of the School of Information. Each summer, the computer labs, and residence and dining halls of North Campus are used to host
Camp CAEN, the College of Engineering's
summer computer camp for high school students.
South Campus
South Campus is the site for the athletic programs, including major sports facilities, such as
Michigan Stadium,
Crisler Arena, and
Yost Ice Arena. South Campus is also the site of the Buhr library storage facility (the collections of which are undergoing digitization by Google), the Institute for Continuing Legal Education, and the Student Theatre Arts Complex, which provides shop and rehearsal space for student theatre groups. The university's departments of public safety and transportation services offices are located on South Campus.
UM's golf course is located south of Michigan Stadium and Crisler Arena. It was designed in the late 1920s by
Alister MacKenzie, the designer of
Augusta National Golf Club in
Augusta, Georgia (home of
The Masters Tournament). The course opened to the public in the spring of 1931. The University of Michigan Golf Course was included in a listing of top holes designed by what
Sports Illustrated calls “golf’s greatest course architect.” The UM Golf Course’s signature No. 6 hole — a par 4, which plays from an elevated tee to a two-tiered, kidney-shaped green protected by four bunkers — is the second hole on the Alister MacKenzie Dream 18 as selected by a five-person panel that includes three-time Masters champion
Nick Faldo and golf course architect
Tom Doak. The listing of “the best holes ever designed by Augusta National architect Alister MacKenzie” is featured in SI’s Golf Plus special edition previewing the Masters in
April 4,
2006.
Athletics
The University of Michigan's sports teams are called the
Wolverines. They participate in the
NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision (formally
Division I-A) and in the
Big Ten Conference in all sports except men's
ice hockey, which is a member of the
Central Collegiate Hockey Association. In seven of the past ten years, UM has finished in the top five of the
NACDA Director's Cup, a ranking compiled by the
National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics to tabulate the success of universities in competitive sports. UM has finished in the top eleven of the Directors' Cup standings in each of the award's twelve seasons and has placed in the top six in each of the last eight seasons.
The
UM football program ranks first in NCAA history in both total wins (860) and winning percentage (.745). The team won the first
Rose Bowl game in 1902, and has the longest current streak of consecutive
bowl game appearances. The last year in which UM didn't appear in a bowl was 1974, which was also the last season in which Big Ten teams other than the champion were not eligible for bowls; UM's last losing season was in 1967. The Wolverines have won a record 42 Big Ten championships, including five in the past decade. The program has eleven
national championships, most recently in 1997, and has produced three
Heisman Trophy winners:
Tom Harmon,
Desmond Howard and
Charles Woodson.
Michigan Stadium is the largest college football-only stadium in the world, with an official capacity of more than 107,501 (the extra seat is said to be "reserved" for
Fritz Crisler) though attendance—frequently over 111,000 spectators—regularly exceeds the official capacity. The NCAA's record-breaking attendance has become commonplace at Michigan Stadium, especially since the arrival of head coach
Bo Schembechler. UM has fierce rivalries with many teams, including
Michigan State,
Notre Dame, and
Ohio State, the latter of which has been referred to by
ESPN as the greatest
rivalry in American sports, along with the Notre Dame-USC and Army-Navy rivalries. UM has all-time winning records against Michigan State University, University of Notre Dame, and Ohio State University.
The men's
ice hockey team, which plays at
Yost Ice Arena, has won nine
national championships, while the
men's basketball team, which plays at
Crisler Arena, has appeared in four
Final Fours and won a
national championship in 1989. However, the program became involved in a scandal involving payments from a booster during the 1990s. This led to the program being placed on probation for a four-year period. The program also voluntarily vacated victories from its 1992–1993 and 1995–1999 seasons in which the payments took place, as well as its 1992 and 1993 Final Four appearances.
Through the
2004 Summer Olympic Games, 178 UM students and coaches had participated in the Olympics, winning medals in every
Summer Olympics except 1896, and winning gold medals in all but four Olympiads. UM students have won a total of
116 Olympic medals: 54 gold, 27 silver, and 35 bronze.
Student life
Residential life
The University of Michigan has the sixth-largest campus housing system in the U.S. and the third-largest family housing operation, accommodating up to 12,562 people. The residence halls are organized into three distinct groups: Central Campus, Hill Area (between Central Campus and the University of Michigan Medical Center) and North Campus. Family housing is located on North Campus and mainly serves graduate students. The largest residence hall has a capacity of 1,277 students, while the smallest accommodates 31 residents. The
Michigan Research Community, usually housed in Mosher-Jordan Hall, is currently located in East Quadrangle (East Quad) due to renovations in its former building. The
Residential College (RC), a living-learning community that's a division of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts, also has its principal instructional space in East Quad. In 2006, the university approved plans for a new residence complex for 550 students on the northern corner of Central Campus. When completed, this residence complex will comprise a second living-learning community.
Groups and activities
There are more than 1150 student clubs and organizations at the university. With a history of student activism, some of the most visible groups include those dedicated to causes such as
civil rights and
labor rights. Two of the most notable of these groups were
Students for a Democratic Society, which recently reformed with a new chapter on campus as of February 2007, and the
Weather Underground. Though the student body generally leans toward
left-wing politics, there are also conservative groups, such as
YAF, non-partisan groups such as the Roosevelt Institution, and religious groups like "JAAM" (Jewish Awareness America).
Fraternities and sororities, many of which are located east of Central Campus, play a role in the university's social life. There are also several engineering projects teams, including the
University of Michigan Solar Car Team, which placed first in the
North American Solar Challenge four times and third in the
World Solar Challenge three times.
Michigan Interactive Investments, the largest collegiate investing and finance organization in the United States, and the Michigan Economics Society are also affiliated with the university. The university also showcases many community service organizations and charitable projects, including the University of Michigan Dance Marathon and
Ann Arbor Reaching Out.
Intramural sports are popular, and there are recreation facilities for each of the three campuses.
The
Michigan Union and Michigan League are student activity centers located on Central Campus; Pierpont Commons is on North Campus. The Michigan Union houses a majority of student groups, including the student government. The William Monroe Trotter House, located east of Central Campus, is a multicultural student center operated by the university's Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs. The University Activities Center (UAC) is a student-run programming organization and is composed of 15 committees. Each group involves students in the planning and execution of a variety of events both on and off campus.
The
Michigan Marching Band, composed of over 350 students from almost all of UM's schools, is the university's
marching band. Over 100 years old, the band performs at every home game and travels to at least one away game a year. The student-run and led
University of Michigan Pops Orchestra is another musical ensemble that attracts students from all academic backgrounds. It performs regularly in the
Michigan Theater. The
University of Michigan Men's Glee Club, founded in 1859, is a men's chorus with over 100 members. Its eight member subset
a cappella group, the
University of Michigan Friars, which was founded in 1955, is the oldest currently running
a cappella group on campus.
The Michigan Daily is the student-run daily newspaper. Founded in 1890,
The Daily is published five days a week during the normal academic year, and weekly during the spring and summer terms. Other student publications at the university include the conservative
The Michigan Review, the progressive
Michigan Independent, the
Michigan Journal of Political Science,
The Michigan Journal of Business, and the humor publications
The Michigan Every Three Weekly and the
Gargoyle.
WCBN (88.3 FM) is a freeform radio station;
WOLV-TV is a student-run television station that's primarily shown on the university's cable television system.
Student government
Housed in the Michigan Union, the
Michigan Student Assembly (MSA) is the central student government of the University. With representatives from each of the University's colleges and schools, the MSA represents students and manages student funds on the campus. The Michigan Student Assembly is a member of the statewide
Association of Michigan Universities. In recent years MSA has organized airBus, a transportation service between campus and the
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, and has led the university's efforts to register its student population to vote, with its Voice Your Vote Commission (VYV) registering 10,000 students in 2004. VYV also works to improve access to non-partisan voting-related information and increase student voter turnout. MSA has also been successful at reviving
Homecoming activities, including a carnival and parade, for students after a roughly eleven-year absence in October 2007.
There are student governance bodies in each college and school. The two largest colleges at the University of Michigan are the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LS&A) and the
College of Engineering. Students in the LS&A are represented by the LS&A Student Government (LSA SG). The University of Michigan Engineering Council (UMEC) manages student government affairs for the College of Engineering. In addition, the students that live in the residence halls are represented by the University of Michigan Residence Halls Association.
A longstanding goal of some members of the student government is to create a student designated seat on the Board of Regents, the university's governing body. Such a designation would achieve parity with other Big Ten schools that have student regents. In 2000, students Nick Waun and Scott Trudeau ran for the board on the state-wide ballot as third-party nominees. Waun ran for a second time in 2002, along with Matt Petering and Susan Fawcett. Although none of these campaigns has so far been successful, a recent poll shows that most students consider student activity fees to be taxation without representation on the board. Another poll conducted by the State of Michigan in 1998 concluded that a majority of Michigan voters would approve of such a position if the measure were put before them. A change to the board's makeup would require amending the
Michigan Constitution.
Fight song
The University of Michigan's
fight song,
The Victors, was written by student
Louis Elbel in 1898 following the last-minute football victory over the
University of Chicago that clinched a league championship. The song was declared by
John Philip Sousa as "the greatest college fight song ever written." The song refers to the university as being the "Champions of the West". At the time, UM was part of the "Western Conference", which would later become the
Big Ten Conference. Although mainly used at sporting events, the fight song can be heard at other events that UM competes in. President
Gerald Ford had it played as his entrance anthem in preference over the more traditional
Hail to the Chief during his term from 1974 to 1977. The fight song is also sung during graduation commencement ceremonies. The university's
alma mater song is
The Yellow and Blue. A common rally cry is "Let's Go Blue!", written by former students Joseph Carl, a tuba player, and Albert Ahronheim, a
drum major.
Notable people and alumni
UM has more than 420,000 living graduates. In addition to the late
U.S. president Gerald Ford, the university has produced twenty-five
Rhodes scholars (
see also: List of Entities Founded by University of Michigan alumni).
Notable writers who attended UM include playwright
Arthur Miller, novelist
Betty Smith, screenwriter
Judith Guest, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet
Theodore Roethke, authors
Charles Major and
Sandra Steingraber, Japanese literature translator
Juliet Winters Carpenter and composer/author/puppeteer
Forman Brown. In
Hollywood, famous alumni include actor
James Earl Jones; actresses
Lucy Liu,
Selma Blair, and
Ruth Hussey; and filmmaker
Lawrence Kasdan.
Other UM graduates include TV journalist
Mike Wallace,
Dana Jacobson and
Steve Phillips of
ESPN,
Rich Eisen of the
NFL Network, entrepreneur Eric Sadek, singer
Joe Dassin, former House Minority Leader
Dick Gephardt, professional golfer
John Schroeder, Google co-founder
Larry Page, conservative pundit
Ann Coulter, assisted suicide advocate
Jack Kevorkian,
Weather Underground radical activist
Bill Ayers, activist
Tom Hayden, Unabomber
Theodore Kaczynski, architect
Charles Moore, famous avant-garde painter
Aethelred Eldridge,
Mannheim Steamroller founder
Chip Davis, the Swedish Holocaust hero
Raoul Wallenberg, and
Benjamin D. Pritchard, the Civil War general who captured
Jefferson Davis.
Clarence Darrow, one of the leading attorneys in the U.S., attended the Law School at a time when many lawyers didn't receive any formal education.
Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon and CNN medical correspondent, attended the UM School of Medicine.
Randy Sklar and
Jason Sklar were the hosts on
ESPN Classic's
Cheap Seats. Pop singer
Madonna, professional baseball player
Derek Jeter, and rock legend
Iggy Pop attended but didn't graduate. Professional wrestler
Scott Steiner was a two-time All-American wrestler at UM and graduated with a degree in Education.
UM athletes have starred in the
National Football League and
National Basketball Association as well as other professional sports. Notable among recent players are
Tom Brady of the
New England Patriots and
Chris Webber, who last played for the
Golden State Warriors. Three players have won college football's
Heisman Trophy, awarded to the player considered the best in the nation:
Tom Harmon (1940),
Desmond Howard (1991) and
Charles Woodson (1997). According to the Apollo 15 astronauts, several small UM flags were brought on the mission. However, no flag made it to the surface or was left there. The presence of a UM flag on the moon is a long-held campus myth.
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