More than a quarter of a million stories have been written at MU and the Mizzou Alumni Association wants to hear yours. Every week we will be posting new stories from alumni and Tiger fans about what Mizzou has added to their lives.
Scroll down to enjoy the stories fellow Tigers are writing about their years at MU. Remember your Mizzou experience by adding your own Tiger memory today!
Enjoy a Tiger Tale: (also explore our special Homecoming Tiger Tales)
My husband and I are both 1970 graduates of Mizzou. Our lives have taken us far and wide, and we have spent many years in Hawkeye land. Now we are retired and moving "home" to Columbia. We didn't know how much we missed it until last year when we came back. It was supposed to be a temporary thing. We are making it permanent.
Joan Huhn, BS ED '70
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As an undergraduate, my mentor was Bill Bray, Executive Director of the Missouri Press Association.
Life has come full circle as my new position is Executive Director of
the Texas Community Media Association (formerly Texas Community
Newspaper association). Thank you, Bill, for all the good advice and example.
John Brick, BJ '67
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I was in the Spanish FIG at Mark Twain. We all really liked each other
and hit it off from the moment of orientation, so we all decided to do
Secret Santa with each other. We set a low limit, because we were all
poor college freshmen, but the gifts we got each other were hilarious
and thoughtful.
Jennifer Galczynski
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I was a sports producer at KOMU and had been hired after graduation as a
supervising producer. They scheduled me to produce my first-ever entire
newscast on Christmas day, because no one else was in town. I did it,
and then immediately got two job interviews, including one where I was
flown to Alabama. I took the California offer and still live here, 18
years later.
David Groves
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The first Christmas after I met my Mizzou Match, we both stayed in
Columbia to work for the holiday season. We spent a lot of time together
that Christmas break and knew we were starting something special. 20
years and 4 kids later, we were apparently right!
Jason Jent
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In
2006, I was at a crossroads with my college education. I had to decide
whether to spend another semester at Mizzou taking classes as a 25 year
old undergraduate or to pursue a professional music career and audition
for American Idol. I decided to pursue American Idol! My academics at Mizzou were fair, but
I was known around campus for my performance talents. When choosing to
audition for Idol over college courses I told myself, "This is a once in
a lifetime opportunity! I could always fall back on Mizzou and earning
my degree." So, I traveled to both Memphis, Tennessee and Seattle,
Washington to audition with high hopes of stardom. My reality was shaken
when I waited for hours amongst thousands of people only to audition
before producers, not TV celebrity judges, and didn't advance pass the producers in
Memphis or Seattle. I was discouraged and became depressed. How did I
receive praise for my music in college and not be good enough for
American Idol? But, I kept in mind, "There's always Mizzou and finishing
college!" So, I return to campus. Two months later, legendary poet Sonia Sanchez visited
Mizzou at the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center! I had an anthology of
her poems that the late Prof. Ahmos Zu-Bolton gave to me. I brought the
book to the event for Sanchez to autograph. When Sanchez opened for
questions, I got up enough courage to ask her to autograph my book! Her
Autograph read: "To Sister Lynita- Please continue to write my young
sister! One Love...Peace, Sonia Sanchez 11/14/06". With her signing my
book, I was more inspired to keep at my musical performance craft. After
meeting Sanchez and coming across more challenges with college work at
Mizzou, I came to the decision to withdraw from Mizzou and be an artist
full time. In 2011, I re-admitted to Mizzou, but I ran into legal issues and am no longer wanted on campus. With me paying my dues to the Mizzou
Alumni Association this year, I was eager to share my experience and to
give perspective as a non-traditional student. I may never receive a
degree from Mizzou, but Mizzou can never tell me that I'm not a TIGER,
Tried and True!
Lynita Jones
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I bought my first Christmas tree and decorated it black and gold! I had Mizzou ornaments from top to bottom. I also bought my whole family Mizzou gifts. They knew I was a Mizzou fan and supporter for life after that Christmas!
Jessalyn Armstrong
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I spent all Thanksgiving Holiday in Hatch Hall with a fellow 3rd floor Weed from Ames, Iowa. We didn't have family to share the Holiday with so we hunkered down and relied on green pepper pizza for our Holiday Dinner.
Mark Bindbeutel
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The annual Braggin' Rights game, without a doubt, is one of the highlights of the holiday season. Our ever-expanding group of MU alums crash downtown St. Louis every year. The day-long event includes a tour of various local establishments, the sauna walk through Maggie O's, and pregame rally with MAA. And the game... that's what college b-ball is meant to be. (Hey kU, enjoy that heated rivalry with Richmond.) Tradition and excitement make MU-IL a must-see for any fan. Thank you Tigers for another early Christmas present!
Brian Cassidy
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In the late 1950's, preparing to leave school to visit my parents back East, I marveled at the unseasonably high temperatures in December, and walked around the campus in shirtsleeves for five days. Then, the next day, it snowed.
Stuart Gorin
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For each of the past three seasons, my older brother and I (both Mizzou alums) have taken our dad to the annual Braggin' Rights game against Illinois. With Mizzou winning each time we've gone, it's been the best Christmas present we've ever given our dad.
Gregory Jackson
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I was in feature writing class and had to write what Christmas means to me. Being Jewish, I was struggling for something, and came up with being from the South, Christmas means camellias and azaleas blooming, wisteria on the vines... or some such. It was published in the Missourian!
Jane Kahn
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As a Southern California kid, my first winter at Mizzou was magical. The day before winter break of my freshman year, it snowed for the first time. I was like a little kid, standing on the Quad trying to catch snowflakes in my mouth!
Geoff Maleman
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Attending the Tangerine Bowl in 1981 in Orlando, FL as a freshman in Marching Mizzou. Heavy snow falling challenged our 5 buses from departing Columbia but after stopping traffic on I-70 to let our buses enter we eventually arrived in sunny Florida. There are many experiences we still share today from that trip including an exciting visit to Disney World and a less desirable food poisoning occurrence on Bus #3. I was on Bus #3.
Stuart Woody
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While many memories were made at Mizzou, what I love now are the memories and lasting friendships that started at Mizzou and have continued for many years later. There is a mini "mizzou mafia" in Washington DC and we recently gathered to celebrate the upcoming arrival two Mizzou Alumns, Christopher Doering and Jennifer Dlouhy. It was a tiger themed baby shower, complete with mini Mizzou baby shoes and diaper cakes.
Suzanne Struglinski Broadfield, BJ '00
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I was in the MU Marching Band in 1948 when Harry Truman was unexpectedly elected President after having served in that office following FDR's death early in his fourth term. President Truman invited the MU Marching Band to represent the State of Missouri by leading his January 1949 inaugrual parade in Washington, DC. We were jubilant in anticipation.
Our dreams, however, were dashed when the Missouri Legislature refused to fund the trip. The Legislature, as a consolation, invited the Band to lead the Governor's inaugrual parade in Jefferson City. This didn't seem to be much of an honor after having Washington pulled out from under us, but they meant well. MU had a huge band by the standards of the day (about 110 strong), and it overpowered the proceeding.
It was a gloomy, cold and misty day. It started sleeting and snowing as our driver fought to keep the bus on the slippery and narrow two-lane Highway 40 while returning to Columbia. When we got there, the ground was a sheet of ice. It would have been possible to ice skate anywhere. Ice-laden trees and branches were falling across the streets and knocking down crackling power lines.
Ultimately, the only power in the city was on campus because the University had its own power plant with underground power lines. All the huge stately trees circling The Columns on Red Campus were damaged and had to be replaced by new young trees. A few years ago, Marching Mizzou was in a Presidential inaugrual parade. They didn't lead it, but they were there.
I was proud of them and my thoughts went back to Truman's parade. I, also, admired the fact that the Band raised their own money for the trip. Why didn't we do that in 1948?
Don Mahan
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I am attaching a fantastic photo of my MU flag flying. I live in Tulsa, and I love to show off our pride and joy of winning the BIG one and being 7-0. My husband Hal Saunders (Class of 1952, Sigma Chi) was an MU alum from Kansas City and passed away in 2008. He would love so much to see this great record as he spoke of MU every day of his 77 years.
Gail Saunders
How about posting a big celebration for the Class of 1960, University of Missouri School of Medicine! The first class to go through all four years in the new Medical School. We watched them build it, then broke it in!
Dr. Donald Cohagan
Bentonville, Ark.
When I was a freshman and still didn't understand football date protocol, I was asked to the Homecoming game. I accepted, but then said yes to another date that night. My game date was furious and rightly so. His parents had come into the game and were expecting to taking us out to dinner before the party at his fraternity house. I cannot remember a more embarrassing Homecoming; however, I did learn the ins and outs for Homecoming protocol!
Barbara Bassin Grossman, '66
Dad's Weekend 2007: Mike Meehan, BSBA '70, with twins Philip (left), pre-dental '09, and David (right), business finance '09.
Mike Meehan, BSBA '70
It was 1973, and I was a pledge in the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity (FIJI). We were scheduled to play Nebraska the upcoming Saturday in Columbia. At the time Nebraska was 5-0 and ranked #2 in the national polls. Mizzou was also undefeated at 5-0 and #10 in the polls. It was my first taste of true Missouri pride and excitement at an upcoming athletic event, though there would be many to come before my graduation in 1977.
My brother was our pledge trainer and came up with an idea Thursday night before the game against the Cornhuskers. If my pledge class (there were 30 of us) could pull a prank to show the world how enthusiastic we all were in supporting our team, then we would be let out of pledge duties for a week following the game.
Friday afternoon, we scouted the perimeter of Faurot Field, the parking lots and the intersections. Satisfied that our plan was sound, we then returned to the fraternity to await nightfall. As if on some clandestine military mission, we all dressed in black, grabbed pliers, gloves, chicken wire, bolt cutters and other assorted tools. We then headed over to Faurot Field to accomplish our mission.
We posted lookouts at each corner of the intersection of Stadium and Providence (although I don't know much what good it would have done to help our cause). The rest of us then crossed over to the corner of the intersection and hid behind the sign with the bolted-down stainless steel 24'' letters. We worked for about thirty minutes removing and rearranging the field name to complete our task. We then returned home to alert everyone that our mission had been accomplished and all would be able to see the results in the morning.
That next morning as people began to arrive to the game, a crowd began to gather on the sidewalk and in the grass outside of the stadium and stare at the sign along Stadium Boulevard. There for all to see was the name of the stadium, albeit in an altered form, it read: "FAROUT FIELD."
Mizzou went on that day to defeat Nebraska 13-12, as Nebraska went for a two-point conversion and failed with less than a minute remaining in the game. It was the first game I ever saw the goalpost on a football field torn down. Sports Illustrated did an article on the game that day and along with their article was a picture of the sign outside of the stadium with the caption, "Missouri fans prediction comes true."
Proud to be a Missouri life member,
Max Carey, B.S. '77
Gotta love these Tigers in training:
Children of alumni Terry (1983) and Lisa Overby Langley (1985) and Nate (2001) and Claire Miller Simmons (2000). The kids and parents painted the Jayhawk to hang from a noose at our tailgate, but we thought it look better in the tiger's mouth!
Enjoy!
Lisa Langley, '85
Our Generations of Mizzou Legacies
This summer the Alumni Association recieved a story from Charles Williams, BS '57, MS '67, PhD '68, outlining the proud Mizzou legacy of his family. Currently, 3,224 Mizzou students are legacies who are following in one or more parent's or grandparent's footsteps.
In a tribute to Mizzou families everywhere that their children to cheer for the black and gold, we share with you the Williams family story:
I first met Dolores B. Vieten at a square dance in the Big Ballroom of Memorial Union on January 16, 1955. After seeing her at the soda shop in Memorial a few weeks later, I called her for a date. We dated during the spring until Dolores graduated in 1955 with a bachelor's in education, then immediately came to my home in Aurora, Mo. for a visit. I was working as a summer laborer at the MU Dairy Farm during the summer, but I traveled to visit Dolores and her family in Spring Bluff, Mo. for a family gathering as we continued to go steady.
I proposed to Dolores on January 17. 1956 and wedding plans were set for when I was due to return home from the USAF ROTC Summer Camp at Webb Air Force Base in Big Spring, Texas. After riding the train overnight (I can still hear the grinding and squealing of the steel wheels on the iron track), Dolores was in Rolla to pick me up and travel back to her farm. We were married in Sullivan, Mo. and honeymooned in Canada and the Great Lakes. We returned to Columbia where I was a senior at Mizzou and Dolores was a home economics teacher in Hallsville Public Schools. When I graduated from Mizzou in 1957 with a B.S. in Agriculture and a USAF Commission as 2nd Lieutenant, USAF, I was ordered to active duty at Edwards AFB in California.
Our first child Nathan was born there in July 1958 and our second child Gregory was born at Kapiolani Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii in February 1960. After transferring to Wheeler AFB in Hawaii, our third child Rachelle was born in March 1962. In 1965, however, I was back at Mizzou in 1963 to complete my graduate degrees in Agricultural Chemistry and since that time have written over 50 referred publications over a 32-year medical research career. I retired to our home in the Lake of the Ozarks in December 2000.
I am proud of what my family has accomplished, including Nathan, who completed a B.S. in Chemistry in 1980 and graduated from the University's law school in 1988. Nathan married Yolanda Leuhr and has three children, Kalen, Katrice and Karissa.
Gregory completed a B.S. in Economics from Mizzou in 1981 and also graduated from the Mizzou Law School in 1984. He married Debra Synder and they have a son, Zane, who graduated from Mizzou in 2007 with a B.S. in anthropology and from Mizzou Law School with a J.D. Their daughter Chelsea graduated with a B.S. in biology in 2010.
Rachelle graduated from Mizzou with a B.S. in secondary math education and married a fellow Mizzou grad, Steven Gegg, who has a B.S. in mechanical engineering.
We are very pleased the first three grandchildren have completed college degrees, and we look forward to the remaining six, ranging in age from 3rd grade to college freshmen. This result brings to fruition a dream I had during my first year at Mizzou that my children would graduate from college and pursue professional careers.
Ronan Williams, the first of the 4th generation arrived June 13, 2010, and we hope he will continue the tradition in the Williams family of graduating from Mizzou in his chosen field.
Our Mizzou Matches:
Charles H. Williams & Dolores B. Vieten
Nathan Williams & Yolanda Luehr
Rachelle Williams & Steven Gegg
Zane Williams & Emily Brickell
Other family members that are Mizzou matches:
John Campbell & Eunice Vieten
Noel Vieten & Mary Moore Bruns
Memories of the Quad:
Having chosen Columbia as our home after having met at Mizzou and married at the Student Union more than 20 years before, we were again living in Columbia within walking distance of the campus in the late 1980s. Since Gary was working for University Hospital, he had become quite familiar with the money-saving (we assume) practice of filling open positions on an "interim" basis throughout the university system, sometimes even for years. As we walked through the snow-covered quadrangle one winter, we were amused by the sight of a well constructed snowman with a sign hanging around his "neck." It read "INTERIM SNOWMAN." So sorry we didn't have a camera to record the masterpiece; just a pleasant memory.
Sue and Gary Cummins
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Going to Mizzou and the memories I have from my experience, I can honestly say it was the best four years of my life. I loved it so much and I am such a huge Missouri fan that I even named my dog Tiger! Tiger, as you can see from the picture, is a huge Mizzou fan as well. He loves showing his Mizzou spirit, being proud of his name and his clothing attire.
Tanvi Shah
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