OT: What dorm did you live in at U-M?
While hearing a lot of parents talk about moving their kids in for the school year, it’s made me think back to my dorm experience and feel a rush of nostalgia. So what dorm did you stay at Michigan? What did you love/hate about your experience there? What was unique about it compared to the rest of U-M housing?
August 15th, 2022 at 7:53 PM ^
Couzens. They’d just finished renovating it, if memory serves, when I got there in 2008. Had to join MCSP to do it but it was absolutely worth it. For one, it was just an overall good experience, and two, it was fantastic not having to worry about making the last bus every Friday and Saturday night. Easy walk to everything.
August 16th, 2022 at 2:33 PM ^
Couzens, the window above the loading dock. There used to be a little grocery store across the street, which was nice.
Lived in South Quad as a junior when housing plans fell through. Enjoyed the football vibe there
August 15th, 2022 at 7:53 PM ^
Bursley
August 15th, 2022 at 7:53 PM ^
Bursley
Loved that I met people from California (Malibu), New York (Long Island and Binghamton), New England, Pennsylvania (Erie, last cut on the M Hockey Team), and all over Michigan - ALL ON MY FLOOR!
Didn’t exactly like the bus ride to central campus and back.
August 15th, 2022 at 8:09 PM ^
I love the Bursley/Squad contrast on this one. I met people from Japan, France, Russia, and all over the US on my floor.
Didn't exactly like the athletes abandoning us to join West Quad for the snowball fight, though.
August 15th, 2022 at 7:55 PM ^
East quad. The restaurant in the basement where you could use food credits was dope. Speaking of,plenty of dope connections in EQ also lol.
August 15th, 2022 at 8:47 PM ^
It was called the Half Ass. Appropriately named IMO
August 15th, 2022 at 11:24 PM ^
The proper name was the Halfway Inn. I worked there from '87-'91. It definitely made some of the best original sandwiches anywhere on or near campus at the time. Also had a really good jukebox and, of course, Joker Poker, one of the world's best 70's pinball games.
August 16th, 2022 at 8:30 AM ^
That time Big Black played at the Half Ass and blew out the fuses...
August 16th, 2022 at 9:55 AM ^
Half Ass. Cool place. They also had live music on weekends back in the day. I used to play there with my band in the late '70s after i graduated and was leading the life of a slacker.
August 16th, 2022 at 9:56 AM ^
God I loved that pinball machine...I was there 89-93 so you probably made me favorite sandwich many times. Grilled cheese: swiss on wheat with a smear of mustard.
August 16th, 2022 at 3:58 PM ^
And don't forget the Atari! The Half Ass had an Atari in the mid-90s. I also had one in my room, though, that I brought from home! Lol! Ataris all around in East Quad! I would have Warlords competitions with my hall mates!
August 15th, 2022 at 11:59 PM ^
Freaks and Geeks Squad UP!
The halfass crew once made me an 4 lb hamburger and yelled at me to finish it all. I got like a quarter way through and threw up.
August 16th, 2022 at 9:56 AM ^
You're no Adam Richman. Man vs. Food -- food won.
August 16th, 2022 at 9:48 AM ^
I lived in EQ all four years (2 as a resident and two as an RF [East Quad's need to be "weird" leading to calling them "Resident Fellows" instead of RAs.]) Loved the Halfway Inn (or Half-ass as we called it). And can 100% confirm the idea of conenctions...it was semiofficial until my last year that if we knew of kids smoking in their rooms we were just to tell them to put a towel under the door and ignore it...until my senior years and their were rumors of the DEA coming in...a lot of toilets flushed that night..shocked the pipes didn't burst. Oh...and my roommate freshmen year grew pot in our closet under a grow light...he said it was terrible.). Was also one of the many dorms in the late 80s/early 90s that claimed Madonna as past resident
August 15th, 2022 at 7:58 PM ^
East Quad is Beast Quad!
That being said... Scuttlebutt at the time was that its cafeteria was generally considered the worst on campus and I can't say I disagreed. Also, and this is a hot take that I might disagree with now, but... I didn't really think the Halfway Inn was all that great.
August 15th, 2022 at 8:49 PM ^
Do you mean the Half Ass?
August 16th, 2022 at 12:01 AM ^
It was way better than the cafeteria food. And if in doubt, you could always get a pint of Ben and Jerry's.
August 15th, 2022 at 8:04 PM ^
Bursley was fun back in the day, back when it got special perks as a reward for being the only large dorms (Baits doesn't really count) not near Central campus.
August 15th, 2022 at 8:07 PM ^
Stockwell as 2nd best. Of course I wasn’t a resident there, was more like visiting. Often.
August 15th, 2022 at 8:30 PM ^
“The virgin vault”
August 16th, 2022 at 3:58 AM ^
Interesting factoid: Madonna lived in Stockwell when she attended UM.
August 16th, 2022 at 9:57 AM ^
I think every dorm claims that...I know East Quad did
August 16th, 2022 at 11:22 PM ^
She lived in my house on Church St, as did Ann B. Davis, or so we told people.
August 15th, 2022 at 8:07 PM ^
Couzens 5th floor with Jeter and prime location next to Gumby’s pizza.
August 15th, 2022 at 11:30 PM ^
Couzens 5th floor for me too. There were 40 kids from my HS class in Alice Lloyd. I chose to be close, while still out on my own.
August 15th, 2022 at 8:07 PM ^
Freshman year 1971-72: Markley Van Tyne
Sophomore year 1972-73: Markley Reeves
At that point in the dim, prehistoric past, Markley didn't bear any resemblance to the comparatively palatial place it is today. My rooms had linoleum floors, concrete block walls painted a light prison green, with a single ugly dresser and a small closet. No gigantic lofts, architecturally elaborate bunks, gigantic TVs, or humongous stereo systems.
August 15th, 2022 at 8:35 PM ^
…dinosaurs roamed the hills where Bursley Hall would someday house engineers.
August 15th, 2022 at 9:45 PM ^
Markley Van Tyne represent!
August 17th, 2022 at 3:42 PM ^
It had a cool lexicon, I recall.
August 15th, 2022 at 8:09 PM ^
So what dorm did you stay at Michigan? What did you love/hate about your experience there? What was unique about it compared to the rest of U-M housing?
This feels like a writing assignment. Will it be graded on a curve?
August 15th, 2022 at 8:17 PM ^
Since I lived in East Quad, I'm getting a written evaluation in lieu of a grade (IYKYK)
August 15th, 2022 at 8:10 PM ^
Markley. I chose to live there (LS&A Honors housing). Feel free to point and laugh. Could've had South Quad. Dumbest decision I made at Michigan.
August 15th, 2022 at 8:13 PM ^
Wadsworth (mtu)
wife was at Mary markley (sp?) and south quad. then corner of state and hill. If I recall correctly they were building Ross while she lived there.
August 15th, 2022 at 8:16 PM ^
Bursley (7 Douglas)... I was an engineer so I thought it would make like easier. I wish I had lived in CC but it was honestly not that bad, and people there were nice and pretty studious. I had a fake ID and would buy stuff for the whole floor, but for partying freshman year I definitely came down to CC. Moved to a house in CC second year.
August 15th, 2022 at 8:17 PM ^
South Quad, 3rd floor. I had a "Converted Triple", which meant a room that was plenty big for one person had three people living in it.
August 16th, 2022 at 7:38 AM ^
Same. 3114 Freshman year and 3116 first semester Sophomore year, iirc.
August 15th, 2022 at 8:21 PM ^
mojo
August 15th, 2022 at 8:41 PM ^
Freshman Year: Markley
Sophomore: MoJo
I didn't see a ton of difference between any of the Hill dorms, except that Markley sucked for being further away from everything. There was something disheartening about going home on a cold dark night and having to walk past 4 perfectly good dorms before getting to yours.
I liked MoJo. The halls were straight, so you could throw a frisbee from one end to the other if you got it just right. Loved having Palmer Field right outside. It was nice to have a small, almost intimate cafeteria, even if it was closed on weekends. Also, in the late 90s, Austin Powers was a thing, so it was fun to say "MoJo" whenever possible.
August 15th, 2022 at 8:52 PM ^
Yes I was early 90s third fl mosher end - agree on both the straight halls for windsprint / races and Palmer field access. Also the tennis courts and that one basketball court outside was handy. We had one of those inter tube-style window catapults and would fire water balloons hundreds of yards into Palmer field , would knock people over . Maybe not prudent in retrospect. There was also some gas-station housed overstuffed pizza place we’d order from on the other side of Palmer field in that era ….Anthony’s maybe (?). I fondly recAll a small convenience / party store near mojo / stockwell we’d stumble over too late night for munchies - can’t recall the name sadly - they had booze too but notoriously tough for fake IDs
August 16th, 2022 at 12:22 AM ^
The basement floor sucked though. Kids coming home drunk were always puking in our bathroom. I was at least on the Palmer Field side so sunlight got in occasionally, but we still couldn't see out the windows, which were not aligned with the room splits; the other side looked out onto a moat.
After I pledged a frat I would go days without coming back to the dorm. I had clothes and food hidden at the frat house, and at the Daily.
Later I worked at the Down Under in South Quad, through when it moved upstairs and became Cafe ConXion. I felt more at home there than MoJo. My best friend and his South Quad hallmates are guys I still keep in touch with; I haven't spoken to any of my freshman year hallmates in MoJo since 1998, save for maybe some MGoBlog interactions.
August 15th, 2022 at 8:25 PM ^
Markley me
markley wife
oldest Markley (cursed)
middle south quad
youngest - no dorm.
markley was great if you liked melted cheese on everything and needed a quick trip to the hospital after a night of traying in the Arb.
August 15th, 2022 at 8:39 PM ^
East Quad for the first two years (RC all the way). Sanjay Gupta lived on my floor (3rd Floor Cooley) or nearby my freshman year. My roommate (Reno Drew here) was in Inteflex (as was Sanjay Gupta and many others among Drew and my mutual friends).
August 15th, 2022 at 9:35 PM ^
I loved Markley, but I also loved traying and don't mind cold walks
August 15th, 2022 at 8:26 PM ^
Bursley. Met my wife there. Deuce Rot 4 Life!
August 15th, 2022 at 8:27 PM ^
Adam's House, West Quad..1999. Lived directly under a UM FB Player....oh the shit we heard from above....
August 15th, 2022 at 8:34 PM ^
East Quad. The People. The HalfAss cafe in the basement. MTV on the tube in lounge outside cafeteria (just as Video Killed the Radio Star) Benzinger Library packed out. I hung out with SNR types, but Inteflex and Residential College made for a special vibe. Classes in the dorm. Took a ceramics class in the basement that changed my life. The in dorm faculty really rocked. Theater was great. I liked the street life around the dorm at the time. The Brown Jug. The Village Corner was a hallmark. Classic movies most every night (not just in the dorm but all over campus... I saw all of the classic movies while an undergrad... formative.) I worked in the Business school library right across the street.
Very Good Times.
Rock the Casbah was a constant buzz my first year.. at least I remember it so.
August 16th, 2022 at 2:46 AM ^
Perfectly evoked! (East Quad '92 - 94 here)
August 16th, 2022 at 10:01 AM ^
Agree with prior post that encapsulates EQ and what made me love it so much very well (pretty much same era as well : 89-93)
August 15th, 2022 at 8:36 PM ^
I was up on the Hill at Markley, and lived near South Quad for most of the rest of my time at Michigan. I did have a great apartment my last semester - over on William.
As for what was memorable about Markley? Hmmm, that’s a tough one. Being close to the Arb - “traying” during snowfalls was fun - and, proximity to CCRB made working out easy.
My children - my daughter was in Markley (Van Tyne), and my son was at Bursley (Douglas).