Favorite IU Places

Beverly and I continue to cherish the IMU as our “favorite IU place of all time.” As students in the early 1960s, we often met Bev’s father, Walter Krick, BS’27, MS’29, in the Union since he loved to stay in the Biddle Conference Center for business meetings. He had been good lifetime friends with Herman Wells, BS’24, MA’27, LLD’62, and Joe Franklin, BS’27, and had taken business classes along with Dr. Wells back in the 1920s. Dr. Wells was our president and Joe Franklin was the treasurer when we started at IU. Beverly and I, as students, would often meet between classes for a “study date” or a snack. I enjoyed reading the LaGrange County Standard newspaper from my home county in the room with the fireplace. Bev looked up the Versailles Republican newspaper for Ripley County news since she was from Milan, Ind. We have enjoyed Singing Hoosiers alumni board meetings and dinners in the Tudor Room as well as Madrigal Dinners while students. Just last fall we stayed in the Union with Joe’s college fraternity roommate, Jon Moll, BA’64, JD’67, and his wife, Barb (Brown), BA’66, MAT’67, during Homecoming weekend. I fondly remember Interfraternity Council, YMCA freshman camp counselors, IU Student Foundation, Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship meetings, intramural bowling league, ride board postings, Kiva, and Commons, Frangipani Room for Little 500 riders meetings, and other activities in the Union. What special memories! As a life member of the Alumni Association, I love to purchase new items at a discount from the world class IU Bookstore for our "IU room." We look forward to the changes, especially the new Starbucks!

My favorite place on campus during my time at IU was the TV room in the IMU at Bloomington. Between weekday classes it gave me the opportunity to rediscover my all-time-favorite TV soap opera, Dark Shadows, syndicated on an Indianapolis station.

There were so many special spots on the IU campus (plus one coffee shop just off-campus) that I remember with so much affection: the woods between Ballantine Hall and Read Quadrangle, indeed all the wooded areas in the old, central core of campus; the old main library, with its dark wood and broad tables, a quiet respite from busy campus life although a real pain to obtain books from the stacks (only "certain people" had easy access). Still, it was a wonderful place to study, at least until 10:30 p.m. when girls had to be in their dorms or houses. But my favorite place? Hands down it was the Student Union on Sunday mornings in the winter. The library was closed, and there were few of us out studying. Fires were burning in the fireplaces, and there were easy chairs to sink into or small tables along the walls affording comfortable study to the few hardy souls who ventured out. The faces became familiar, and I was enveloped in comfort and security. I adored my four years at IU and treasure the education I received. I had wonderful professors, true educators, people who loved their fields and enjoyed teaching their students. What a privilege it was to attend such a wonderful school on such a beautiful campus.

My favorite place by far while a student at IU was the Union building, due in no small part to the one-of-a-kind chocolate oatmeal cookies from Sugar and Spice. I used to get dozens when I would come back on campus and take them with me to my duty station during my 20 plus years in the military. However, Assembly Hall, during the "golden age" of IU basketball, would definitely rank a close second.

In the early ’50s, the Commons was my favorite place; my friends and I gathered there. The cookies were out of this world: a four-inch-plus vanilla sugar cookie and another four-incher that was probably brown sugar and ground oatmeal. Some years ago, through a friend in Bloomington whose relative worked in the Common’s kitchen, I got the sugar cookie recipe in pounds of flour, sugar, etc. It took some experimentation to cut the recipe down, but I and other fans of the cookie think it’s right now. I’d love to know how to make the other one as well.

Although I could easily and truthfully say the entire campus, I specifically would say the check cashing office in the IMU. During the years I was at IU, ending in 1963, on Thursdays I would stop by this office (which I can still very vividly see in my mind) on my way back from class to my fraternity (Phi Kappa Theta, located at Eighth and Fess) and cash a check totaling $7! That $7 would allow me to pay for my weekly expenses: a few sandwiches at Shoney’s, an evening at Nick’s, cigarettes that cost 25 cents per pack, and "refreshments" for the weekend. I was always pleased when Thursday came around. I also have very fond memories of playing basketball on any of the courts in the old gym across from the IMU and of classes in Ballantine Hall and Wylie Hall, as well as sitting courtside and watching players like Tom Bolyard (BS’63, MS’64), Jimmy Rayl (BS’64), and Tom (BA’65) and Dick VanArsdale (BA’65) from floor level. One couldn’t get closer than that, other than being on the team!

Going back over 40 years, it is hard to pick one favorite place from my memories of IU Bloomington. There was a lot of building going on when we were there. I remember walking through the mud and under tarps. It was fun to find someone with a car and drive out to watch the earthmovers work on the "new" athletic facilities. The Union holds so many different memories, from dances to nooks to rest in to the Commons. And of course, I must mention the many bridges over the Jordan. And perhaps a memory that no one else would understand is how much fun we had in the basement of the old B&E building where a group of us regularly raided the vending machines during study breaks from the library on the top floor.

By far, my favorite place at IU Bloomington was the South Lounge in the Union building. It was a safe haven from the weather when it felt like it rained for days on campus or during the huge spring snowstorm that canceled classes in ’96. The South Lounge was a favorite place to nap, although you never thought you would be able to nap in a public place until you stayed up all night in college. You could actually study there, too, with the comfortable chairs and handy side tables available to spread out your books. Most didn’t have leather couches and wooden tables available in their dorm rooms! Of course, the best part was that the lounge was just steps away from things you might need to study in the bookstore, food from the many vendors downstairs, the computer lab to check e-mail and write papers, and a place to talk with friends. I miss having a one-stop place to work and play!

The Memorial Union with all of its nooks and crannies for reading, studying, and socializing; an all-inclusive place for everyone. Loesje Edwards Troglia, BS’77 Washington, D.C. My favorite place at IU Bloomington was the Memorial Union. It was a great place to meet with friends, take time between classes, and just relax. It had the best burritos in town! Every chance we had, we would meet before class for a good lunch. Christina Hicks, BS’99 Zionsville, Ind. The Memorial Union was my favorite place, because it was a place where you could relax, and forget about some of your problems for a while.

I arranged my class schedules so that there was an empty period between classes. This helped my wife, Lois, avoid frequent trips to campus to pick me up and gave me plenty of time to study. My favorite place was the reading room in the Student Union with its deep, comfortable club chairs. Unfortunately, they were almost too comfortable and I occasionally fell asleep instead of studying!

The Memorial Union was my favorite place on campus. I would go there between classes and eat popcorn and watch my soap operas: All My Children, One Life to Live, and General Hospital in the Luke and Laura days. I also would bowl there, for I was on a bowling league for my dorm floor at Teter.

One of my favorite places was the commons area in the Student Union. It was a great place to meet up with friends to pass time between classes and the sugar doughnuts were great.

My favorite place at IU Bloomington? The Memorial Union. You first had to buy a congo bar with a cup of coffee at the sweet shop/bakery, then curl up in an overstuffed chair in any one of the lounges.

The bench across from the Frangipani Room in the Union: I used to sit on this bench between classes with my friend, Doug "Abe" Wehner (BA’93), and people watch. It was a great way to pass the time between classes.