A brief history of time: UM-St. Louis

If you only meet one person while at UM-St. Louis, it should be Dave Ganz. He has been at the University since the first graduating class in 1967 and continued to teach at UMSL until 2002.

Ganz still is around, serving officially as Assistant Professor Emeritus and Associated Dean of the College of Business Administration. There is no more friendly professor, nor anyone who knows as much about UMSL as Dave Ganz.

"I came to the campus as a member of the accounting faculty and taught until my retirement from full-time employment in December 2002. I also served as Dean of Student Affairs from the fall of 1969 through December 1972 and served as coordinator of the accounting program at UMSL from 1981 until 1987," he said.

Q: What, in your opinion, has been the most significant event in UM-St. Louis' history?

A: "It is very difficult to zero in on a single event. Looking back I'd have to say that just seeing the campus grow and mature has been very rewarding.

"There is so much potential for this campus, but the co-existence of UM campuses in Columbia, Kansas City and Rolla, not to mention the significant number of other private higher education programs in St. Louis, have always made it difficult for this campus to fulfill its potential.

"This campus started with nothing in 1963; Columbia, Kansas City and Rolla were already existent universities with many programs. Political and fiscal repercussions have always made it difficult for this campus to blossom given the pressures to avoid overlap and duplication."

Q: What were the first buildings used when UMSL opened?

A: "In 1963 there was only the old Bellerieve Country Club building.

"Facilities were rented on Natural Bridge at Hanley--the laundry mat building; and the church basement was used across from our present location on Natural Bridge. Benton Hall was the first permanent building to be constructed and opened in the fall of 1965. Clark Hall and the Library were the next permanent buildings to go up in the late 1960's."

Q: What names has the University had?

A: "When opened as a public higher education program in 1960, the campus was owned and operated by the Normandy School District.

"The site was known as the Normandy Residence Center. At that time Normandy invited the Extension Division of the University of Missouri in Columbia to offer coursework here. That is how the University of Missouri got its foot in the door.

"Then in 1963 Normandy decided that given the cost of the program and the announcement by St. Louis Community College to begin operations, that it [Normandy] would offer the site for sale to UM. In 1963 the University reorganized from a single campus operation in Columbia to acquire the School of Mines and Metallurgy in Rolla, the private University of Kansas City in KC and the Normandy Residence Center here to become a University of Missouri System with four campuses. So the University of Missouri - St. Louis was born and the name has remained the same over all of the years since."

Q: I heard that there was a plane crash on our campus in the 1970's, what do you know about it?

A: "It was an Ozark airline flight on its approach to land at Lambert International Airport. The weather was very unsteady that evening with a tornado warning in effect. An updraft brought the plane down just east of the Mark Twain complex. I believe there were some fatalities, but the pilot walked away from the crash.

"The aftermath resulted in that area being roped off for several days while the investigation continued. I was on campus at the time, but totally unaware of what had happened until hearing about it later in the evening."

Q: I've heard rumors that there have been sit-ins and race riots on campus?

A: "I don't recall any race riot events. We had demonstrations during my Dean of Student days. In the Spring of 1970 there were the killings at Kent State University from demonstrations against the US involvement in Cambodia.

"The anti Vietnam involvement came to a head in the spring of 1970. There was a burning of an ROTC building at the Washington University campus and a real concern that there might be problems here. There was an attempted boycott of the campus that had many persons concerned.

"These were also the days of the civil rights movement, but I don't recall any riots on this campus or in St. Louis. The only other sit in I recall, the campus' first, was when a building was constructed on campus to serve as a student gathering place--a temporary student union. When the construction was completed, it was decided to use it for faculty offices since the campus was growing so rapidly.

"The students demonstrated over this occurrence. The building did ultimately become the Fun Palace which was demolished after the old University Center was completed. It was located in the vicinity of what is now the west campus drive garage."