Michigan Union Side Door

Today, roughly half of all U of M students are women and students of all genders are, on paper, given equal access to student life here on campus. But this wasn’t always the case—many spaces, including the Michigan Union, excluded women for much of U of M’s history.

By the time the Union was built in 1919, women had been enrolled at Michigan for nearly 50 years, since 1870. At that time, the few female students were considered a “fringe” population, and generally co-mingled freely with their male counterparts. But by the 20s, women began to make up a larger chunk of the student body, and social life at Michigan became increasingly segregated along gendered lines. In fact, women could not enter the Union without a male escort until 1956, and even then, they could only use the downstairs side doors standing behind us. There was even a student-appointed guard stationed at the building’s main entrance to enforce this rule!

During this time, the designated center for women’s social lives at the University was the Michigan League, which is roughly a ten minute walk from this spot. Equally important to female student life was the Office of the Dean of Women, which was created to uphold the then-governing ideal of in loco parentis, or in place of parents, and monitor the academic and social lives of women on campus. At the start of the 60’s, the Dean of Women Deborah Bacon was infamous for presiding over female student life with an iron fist. In 1960, a group of journalists at the Michigan Daily exposed Bacon for discriminatory behavior against students in interracial relationships. Several of these students reported feeling intimidated by Bacon, who threatened to violate their privacy with phone calls home. Under pressure from the public and the Board of Regents, Bacon resigned, and the vacant position was never filled. This began a domino effect for Michigan women’s social lives. In 1962, curfews were removed for senior women, and shortly after, they ended altogether. Visitation hours were eventually abolished and “house mothers” in women’s dorms were replaced by Resident Assistants.

In 1968, the Billiard Room in the Union’s basement lifted its men-only policy, completing an effort that began after World War II to integrate the Union—finally, the so-called “center for campus life” was fully accessible to Michigan’s entire student body. This was important because the union was a hot spot for a rapidly growing and evolving student culture. For example, in 1962, the Union was host to the Michigan Folk Festival with iconic singer and songwriter Bob Dylan as a headlining performer. When promoting this event, the Michigan Daily actually misspelled Dylan’s name as Bob D-I-L-L-I-O-N, and, to the embarrassment of many, had to print a correction.

Today, the Union remains a center for campus culture and student life, but, rather than the way it was in the past, all members of the University population are welcomed and allowed to enter from whichever door they please.

“Ann Arbor, 22 April 1962 University of Michigan Folk Festival.” Come Writers and Critics: The Bob Dylan Paper Site. https://www.bobdylan-comewritersandcritics.com/pages/programmes/u-of-m-folk-festival-1962.htm

“Ann Arbor May Festival The Philadelphia Orchestra University Choral Union” (advertisement). Michigan Daily. March 15, 1959. https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015071754050/244.

Bartlett, Nancy and Emily Swenson. Constructing Gender: The Origins of Michigan’s Union and League.Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. https://exhibits.bentley.umich.edu/s/constructing_gender/page/introduction 

Brookfield, Molly, Abigail Esbrook, Sophie Kaufman, Laura Marsh, Michelle McClellan, Mel Neal, Emma Stout, Levi Teitel. “A Dangerous Experiment”: Women at the University of Michigan (online exhibit). https://michiganintheworld.history.lsa.umich.edu/dangerousexperiment/

Tobin, James. “How the Michigan Union Came to Be.” University of Michigan Heritage Project. heritage.umich.edu/stories/how-the-michigan-union-came-to-be/. 

Tobin, James. “Women Apart.” University of Michigan Heritage Project. https://heritage.umich.edu/stories/women-apart/ 

Weitzenkorn, Lee. “Male Power Declines: Women Invade Union Poolroom.” Michigan Daily. March 21, 1968. https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015071754001/589