Check out the Class Photo Album.
Do you remember what was happening on campus, in Chicago, around the world, and in arts and culture during your years in the College?
- In 1978, the College received the highest number of applications since World War II; the entering class included more than 700 students, almost 100 more than in the previous year. The entire University enrolled roughly 8,000 students. The male-to-female ratio on campus was approximately 2-to-1 for the Class of 1982.
- Issues facing the University in this period included: inflation, a persistent local housing shortage, a decline in enrollment and in the ability to attract donors, and a rise in government intervention in private institutions.
- Hanna Gray was officially inaugurated as the President of the University in October 1978 at a well-attended ceremony at Rockefeller Chapel.
- The University ran budget deficits (about $9 million in 1980-1981) throughout most of the years of this class. Such shortfalls often caused services to be curtailed. By fall 1980, Hutch Commons was closing as early as 2 p.m. to save money.
- Homecoming in fall 1978 was considered the first “festive one” in forty years.
- There were concerns that “The Pub” (established 1974) in the basement of Ida Noyes might close as the state of Illinois raised the drinking age to 21 from 19 in summer 1979. Half of the bar’s patrons were 19- and 20-year-olds prior to the change in law. Drink nights offered a beer for 25 cents in 1981.
- A vicious winter storm hit campus and the Chicago area in January 1979, dumping several feet of snow. The University did not close, unlike most other schools and universities in the area; Provost D. Gale Johnson explained that students at UC paid good money to be able to attend classes.
- In May 1979, 1,600 people, mostly students, protested when former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara came to campus to receive the Albert Pick Jr. Award for International Understanding. 17 students were arrested during the protest. Renowned anti-war activist and veteran Ron Kovic spoke at a “teach-in” during the awards dinner.
- Student and faculty members questioned University investment policies that supported apartheid in South Africa during several different protests and forums.
- The Henry Crown Field House and Shoreland dormitories had undergone very extensive renovations by the senior year of this class. Mandel Hall re-opened after a thorough refurbishing in late 1980.
- Student groups were very active in trying to rouse support for their candidates before the presidential election of 1980. The most interest was focused on third-party candidate John Anderson, who ran as an Independent.
- The Hyde Park Coffee Shop, a long-time neighborhood institution and 24-hour gathering place for many students, closed early in 1981.
- U2, one of the most successful rock bands ever, played International House in April 1981 before they “hit it big.” Admission to the concert was $1.
- Initial job prospects for this class immediately after graduation were quite poor due to a floundering national economy. Even so, an increased number of seniors chose to enter the job market instead of graduate school, citing a decrease in financial aid available to graduate students due to shrinking university budgets.
- Quantrell Award winners in 1982 were Robert Fefferman, Edward Garber, Janel Mueller, and Robert Richards.
- In 1978 The Chicago Daily News ceased publication after 103 years.
- Jane Byrne became the first female mayor of Chicago in April 1979. She defeated incumbent Michael Bilandic. Many said the results were due to Bilandic’s slow response to the bruising blizzard of the previous January.
- The State Street “mall” opened in Chicago in 1979. It was the first largely pedestrian thoroughfare in a large U.S. city.
- A formal peace treaty between Israel and Egypt was signed in early 1979.
- In March 1979, the nuclear power facility at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, had a serious malfunction that caused a massive build up of radioactive gases. Fortunately, the crisis was averted and the containment structure held.
- Renewed oil shortages meant long lines at gas stations and spiraling inflation by late 1979 which continued well into 1980.
- By summer 1979, it was fashionable for youngsters to hold “disco-dumping” parties where records were collected in large piles and burned. A near-riot broke out at one of these parties at Comiskey Park.
- Ted Turner launched the 24-hour Cable News Network in early 1980.
- President Carter orchestrated a rescue mission in April 1980 for the 53 hostages held in the US Embassy in Tehran Iran since 1979. The mission ended in failure with eight U.S. soldiers dying in the attempt. The hostages were eventually released in January 1981.
- Mount St. Helens experienced a massive eruption in May 1980, killing 65 people.
- The United States and 57 other countries boycotted the Moscow summer Olympics in protest of Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
- Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer announced their engagement in February 1981.
- President Ronald Reagan and his press secretary, James Brady, were shot by John Hinckley outside the Washington Hilton Hotel in March 1981.
- IBM sold its first “personal computer” in 1981. The operating system was called MS-DOS, developed by a then-very-small company called Microsoft.
- By summer 1981, the U.S. economy was headed into a deep but relatively brief recession due to the Reagan administration’s attempt to stamp out pervasive inflation.
- PLO leader Yasser Arafat affirms a UN resolution recognizing Israel’s right to exist in 1982.
- Books and Literature: The Right Stuff (Tom Wolfe), Gorky Park (Martin Cruz Smith), The Mosquito Coast (Paul Theroux), The Executioner’s Song (Norman Mailer).
- Music: World-famous ex-Beatle John Lennon was gunned down in front of his NYC apartment by obsessed fan Mark Chapman in December 1980. His and Yoko Ono’s “Double Fantasy” won the Grammy Award for Best Album in early 1981. Popular songs included Another One Bites the Dust (Queen), Against the Wind (Bob Seger), Starting Over (John Lennon), Another Brick in the Wall (Pink Floyd).
- Television: M*A*S*H, Knot’s Landing, Dallas, Mork and Mindy, ChiPs, WKRP in Cincinnati, Taxi, Little House on the Prairie.
- Movies: Raiders of the Lost Ark, All the President’s Men, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Empire Strikes Back, American Gigolo, Chariots of Fire, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
Researched by the University of Chicago, Development and Alumni Relations, 2006. The Chicago Maroon was the primary source for the “On Campus” section.