1868: First Photograph of the Rotunda0

Spring 2008

Bice Devices1

Winter 2007

Raymond Bice During his 46 years at the University, legendary psychology professor Ray Bice entertained and educated more than 27,000 students with his ingenious “Bice Devices.” An inventor and self-described tinkerer, Bice developed a device for every lecture in his “Bice Psych” course because he believed “a demonstration is worth a thousand words.” Bice’s inventiveness was not limited to classroom demonstrations. Cobbling together parts from an old telephone and a pinball machine that had been confiscated by the Danville, Va., police department, he invented U.Va.’s first computer in 1955. Bice used the computer to keep track of applicants during a...

Reflections of a Centenarian2

Fall 2007

Charles E. McMurdo When I got ready to come East to go to college, Dad arranged with his brother for me to come and live with the family and go to the University as a day student. I came on a cattle train. The routine was, we traveled during the day and in the evening, we’d pull off and unload the cattle into pens where they were watered and rested for the night. The next morning, we loaded them back in and traveled another day. I think it took about five days to get to Chicago. I bought a...

The Queen0

Summer 2007

A portrait of Mrs. Walker hung for many years in the student lounge of Newcomb Hall. Best known as the Queen, Mrs. Alfred E. Walker was hired by the University in 1918 to bring a “feminine touch” to student activities at Madison Hall. She became a central figure of student life during her 35 years as the “beloved and indefatigable hostess at the Student Union,” as described by Virginius Dabney in Mr. Jefferson’s University. “It was a brand new idea to have a woman at Madison Hall,” reported Alumni News. “She started right in as though not scared at all with...

1943: The Dry Dock0

Spring 2007

Tight Quarters0

Winter 2006

Book from the collection of Paul Mott (Col ’82) “No student shall make any festive entertainment within the precincts of the University, or elsewhere, nor contribute to, or be present at them, without the leave of the Chairman [of the Faculty] … as such entertainments are, for the most part, unfriendly to collegiate duties, they should be allowed with caution, and unlicensed indulgence in them should be vigilantly restrained.” • “When a Professor knocks at the door of a student’s room, any person being within, and announces himself, it shall be opened … and the Professor may, if refused, have the door broken...