The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

Flashback: 70s UVM

After recently chatting with my father, UVM alumni John Rogers-I couldn’t help but admire the drastically laid back atmosphere of UVM in the 1970s

My pops graduated UVM in 1977. 

During his four years, he served as SGA president while graduating second in his class with a degree in finance. 

He even came back to teach because he just couldn’t get enough of Burlington. 

My father told me about the bitter mornings on his walk from Redstone to campus. 

“There was also no such thing as ‘global warming’ so the winters here were really tough, negatives from November to March,” he said. 

Often when my dad inquires about grades or classes, he can’t believe the ease and accessibility the UVM website has to offer. “Blackboard? You mean chalkboard?” 

There was no Davis Center, no Bailey-Howe, their library was in Billings.

“We didn’t have anything close to the amount of technology you kids have,” he said. 

I would love to go back in time where there wasn’t any confusion over whether something wasn’t properly submitted or not. 

Pen and pencil was all you needed on your walk to class. 

The annual Springfest concert, back in the day, featured  musical performances that blow ours out of the water. 

For my dad’s senior year they featured the group Simon & Garfunkel, with arists Jackson Browne as the opening act. 

“Since I was president of SGA I was responsible for showing them around UVM and give them the whole campus tour,” he said. 

“We got Cook Commons for dinner.” 

If visualizing Simon & Garfunkel eating off of a tray in Cook Commons doesn’t make you giddy enough, my father also informed me that the water tower located on Redstone campus didn’t have a fence around it and was totally accessible for students to climb. 

As long as the students took caution, and didn’t bring up too many beers. 18 was the drinking age, after all.

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Flashback: 70s UVM